what is relationship marketing

Much like pharmaceutical care, relationship marketing has been defined in various ways.^[4] In the narrowest sense, relationship marketing refers to the use of a customer database to select preferred customers for a promotional program, such as direct mailing of a special coupon or offering a discount to a limited group of customers.^[5,6] In this article, we define relationship marketing much more broadly as a practice that encompasses "all marketing activities directed toward establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relationships."^[7]

The focus of relationship marketing is on developing long-term relationships with a targeted group of patients and other partners. This article focuses primarily on the relationship of marketing to the most important beneficiary of pharmaceutical care: the patient. In the pharmacy setting, relationship marketing refers to attracting, maintaining, and enhancing patient relationships to create mutual benefit for the pharmacist and patient.^[8] Given the ongoing nature of chronic drug therapy and the opportunity for repeated interactions between pharmacists and patients, identifying and targeting groups of patients who could benefit from developing long-term therapeutic relationships with pharmacists makes sense both professionally and economically.

Relationship marketing theory was developed in the early 1980s to respond to the growing needs of service-oriented companies, which have steadily replaced manufacturers as the dominant drivers of the U.S. economy. Although originally developed for companies such as banks and insurers, relationship marketing lends itself well to the promotion of pharmaceutical care programs. Pharmaceutical care is a service, not a material good. Because patients cannot physically see or touch services, they must understand and experience them to derive benefits from them and appreciate their value.^[9] Relationship marketing offers practical strategies to help pharmacists convey the value of pharmaceutical care services and encourage active patient participation.

In addition, relationship marketing emphasizes the value of lasting bonds, making this approach well suited to promoting pharmacy services to patients who have chronic conditions and require long-term follow-up to ensure that their therapeutic goals are met. The majority of pharmaceutical care services are for patients with chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia, or who require long-term support for efforts such as smoking cessation or weight loss. Relationship marketing offers a more focused and efficient approach to recruit and retain patients from these populations.