Proactive Relationship Management

Abstract

Vendors and customers are not always equal. Yet there is a need to develop a strong proactive equitable relationship. We discuss the ‘equal’ attitude, conducting reality check for customer engagements, nuanced human and transactional factors contributing to relationship strains and how (formal reviews included) to prevent or mitigate when adverse situations are portended. How much of your organization should get exposure to the customer that allows wider people-to-people interactions on a planned basis, reaching out to the users in the customer organization to keep a close relationship with users and trust as the cornerstone of an account relationship are other important aspects delineated. We also discuss the potential areas for trust deficit and suggestions on how to prevent and manage them. Questions on your company’s reputation—business, financial, ethical, human resource and so on—must be dealt with squarely to avoid being silently blacklisted or ignored for business opportunities.