C/EC/17. A comparison of the customer relationship strategies used in B2C and B2B markets

In order to compare the strategies used by B2C organisations and B2B organisations to manage their customer relationships, this paper has explored the techniques at the Debenhams group of stores and by Procter and Gamble. It has been found that technology has enabled both organisations to gain knowledge about its customers and subsequently to improve the quality of the service and product offer. The key differences are that consumer relationship building will tend to be less personal and unlikely to progress to the top of the loyalty ladder, as there are so many more customers, but organisations can aim to develop supporters and advocates of their offer; whereas B2B relationship building relies on developing close partnerships with their customers in order that they can both benefit from increased consumer sales. It has been found that customer referrals, endorsements and spreading the work are extremely important forms of consumer behaviour for a company. (Christopher et al: 2002; page 49)