ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a fundamental part of CRM – customer-supplier relationships. Customer-supplier relationships involve a set of interactions between both parties over time. For this to happen, and to benefit both parties, trust and commitment must exist. These allow both parties to feel comfortable investing in joint or complementary resources which help create benefits. As conditions change, the customer-supplier relationship evolves through different stages – each of which involve different levels of engagement between both parties. Some relationships are positive and beneficial. The chapter considers the customer engagementàcustomer satisfactionàcustomer loyaltyàbusiness performance link to capture the logic behind successful, positive customer-supplier relationships. It then explores suppliers’ motivations towards creating and maintaining customer relationships as well as the drivers that favour relationship avoidance. Suppliers evaluate criteria like customer lifetime value (CLV) to make decisions in this regard. The chapter also considers the customers’ motivations to want or not to want relationships with suppliers. Last, we provide an overview of five major schools of thought regarding relationship management: IMP, Nordic, Anglo-Australian, North American, and Asian (Guanxi) Schools of thought.
