Abstract
M.Comm.
The first objective of this study is to determine the techniques appropriate for building
customer relations. The second objective of this study is to establish the guidelines necessary for improving customer relations. The third objective is to establish the levels of relationships that have taken place between the respective manufacturing and customer (retail) companies under study. The fourth objective is to discover if any best practices with regards to relationship building can be identified. Restrictions/Limitations
The study under focus relates only to a small sample in the South African economy.
Although one could probably use the findings as a representative sample, a more valid
statistical measure will be gleaned from a larger sample. Unfortunately little research has been reported on relationship marketing in South Africa in recent years. A report by Jordaan et. al. (1997) was released on key account management, which is an instrument to successful marketing relationships. In fact, no concrete conclusions have been drawn with regards to South African companies' channel relationship positions between suppliers and customers. Due to the latter, the research study has been of an exploratory nature. The hypothesis put forward, together with the research study, will serve as an excellent cornerstone for further research developments.
Research methodology
Part One: Theory
Information for this study has been collected by making use of the following ways. Firstly information concerning the development of customer relations from the pre 1960's, was retrieved from a product manager at Unilever, by means of an interview.
Secondly, information was captured from published and unpublished literature about
the development of the concept of relationship marketing and its rightful place within
the general field of marketing. Information concerning techniques, guidelines and best practices for relationship/partnership building, have been extracted from various literature sources.
Part Two: Empirical study
An empirical study has been undertaken to determine to what extent South African fast
moving consumer goods companies have progressed towards a synergistic partnership
between supplier and customer. The information was collected by means of an unstructured questionnaire directed at the following five focus group companies, namely, Cadbury's/Schweppes, Coca-Cola, Nestle, National Brands and Unilever.