Some relationship managers allow their social networks to grow haphazardly within the firm, but the superstars take a more strategic approach
Customers in the 21st century want solutions that combine products and services, which makes the relationship manager’s job increasingly complex. One sales professional or account manager no longer can know it all. They simply cannot understand all of the things their company can do for clients, which makes their internal connections across the firm more important than ever. Talking with and meeting new people comes naturally to most relationship managers, which is the good news. They don’t need much prodding from their managers to develop internal networks. But our new research, based on data from nearly 500 employees in the same company, shows that certain types of internal structures work best to accentuate information and cooperation benefits and boost sales performance. Some relationship managers allow their social networks to grow haphazardly within the firm, but the superstars take a more strategic approach. Here are seven observations from our research, published in the January 2014 issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Marketing.
[This article has been reproduced with permission from Knowledge Network, the online thought leadership platform for Thunderbird School of Global Management https://thunderbird.asu.edu/knowledge-network/]