Over twenty years ago, a guy nick-named “Skooby” (whom I consider one of my most valued mentors) – taught me a very simple, powerful thing about my job. It was that ‘marketing’ works best when its practioners view the word itself as a verb and not a noun. I thought of this immediately when I read AH’s thoughts on “Marketing is Everyone’s Job.”

In the SMB sector, defining marketing’s parameters has always been a challenge. Among the best descriptions I’ve run across is that marketing is “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.” In other words, it’s everything a company does to successfully sell – and encompasses [as a verb] a whole lot more that what typical marketing departments [as a noun] are structured for these days.

Everyone knows that keeping current clients happy and engaged is by far the best way to grow and protect the bottom line, especially in uncertain economic times. That is why many companies I’ve talked to have been breaking out their playbooks and turning to the ‘Customer Retention’ page as plans are formed about how best to finish the 3rd and 4th Quarters this year. Hence, Relationship Marketing will likely ascend for a time as this year’s buzzword king-of-the-hill.

Customer Retention is the result of a tactical mixture of activities aimed at finding out what matters most to customers, why, and whether or not a product or service meets or exceeds those expectations. And like any good relationship, the key is finding compelling ways to engage and communicate with customers in ways that really work – which, In a nutshell, is Relationship Marketing.

Like any good marketing plan, Relationship Marketing needs to have the right elements in the mix. There are quite a few versions used for breaking these out, but the one I learned from a fellow name Todd Stine – and like the best – is yet another awkward acronym.

U Understand (things your company does to really know what customers want and need)
E Execute (things your company does to live up to customer expectations)
A Add Value (things your company does to exceed customer expectations)
C Communicate (things your company does to measure and quantify results driven performance)

Drilling down and tailoring specific activities encompassed by UEAC is a function of the entire company. And a truly effective Relationship Marketing plan needs to pull resources from all corners of the company together and put them on the same page with a clear, integrated schedule of objectives and rewards as the blueprint for making them happen.