CHAPTER 4. A partnership view of gender relations

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One of the latest marketing strategies used by businesses to reduce their willingness to switch suppliers is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing means creating, maintaining and strengthening relationships with clients and other external colleagues. The goal of affiliate marketing is to provide positive value to the company's customers in the long term, and the measure of success is long-term customer satisfaction. Affiliate marketing is associated with an emphasis on customer retention and loyalty, with an emphasis on customer benefits of the entire offer, with long-term functionality, with the importance of customer service, as an important element of marketing policy and high customer involvement (often direct contact). Affiliate marketing requires the collaboration of all departments of the company in an effort to provide the best customer service. Relationship building must occur at different levels: economic, social, technical and legal, in order to achieve the effect of a high degree of customer loyalty. There are five different types of relationships that exist between a company and its customers: 1) basic relationship - the salesperson sells the product but does not carry out any post-sale transactions; the only contact occurs during the sale; 2) reactive relationships - the seller sells the product and recommends that the client contact the company if any questions or problems arise on his part; the company offers consultations related to the product it sells; 3) responsible relationship - the seller calls the buyer soon after purchase to check whether the product meets his expectations, also tries to get suggestions for improving the product or information about any reasons for dissatisfaction with the purchase, and this information allows the company to constantly improve the offer; 4) proactive relationships - the salesperson or other company employees periodically contact customers, providing them with suggestions for using the product or information about new offers; 5) Partnerships - The salesperson constantly works with customers to find ways to add more value to them. The type of relationship a company pursues depends on the number of its customers and the profit margin for the company. —I have an interesting story for you. Affiliate marketing involves providing benefits to customers in exchange for long-term loyalty to the company. However, the value delivered to the client is perceived differently by them. Therefore, there are three main ways to create these values, depending on the nature of the values ​​that are positively perceived by a given client: 1) The first method mainly concerns financial indicators and presenting them to the client. This method applies mainly to customers who are focused on obtaining financial benefits when purchasing a certain product (for example, discounts, promotions, rebates, but also loyalty programs, for example in hotels where regular customers are offered rooms of a higher standard, or in supermarkets, where large purchases are given discounts or other discounts). 2) The second way is to offer the client so-called social benefits. It is used for clients who place a sense of social belonging at the top of their list. In this case, company employees try to strengthen bonds with customers by contacting them and learning about their individual needs and requirements, and then individualizing and personalizing the products and services offered. The most important thing is that the client feels that his needs are put first in the company. The client feels that he is treated individually, which makes him satisfied and loyal to the company that devotes its time to him. 3) The third way to create value in affiliate marketing is by building a structural relationship between the company and its customers, in addition to providing them with financial benefits and social value. The company's relationship with the client depends not only on purchase and sale, but also on other assistance to clients. For example, a company in the corporate market may provide customers with specialized equipment, such as computer connections, to manage order processing, payroll, and inventory management.

Affiliate marketing is...

Since affiliate marketing is the building of partnerships with distributors or end customers, which is based on mutual trust of the parties, long-term cooperation, the main goal of which is to achieve jointly set goals, the stages of implementation of affiliate marketing in the company are formed: 1) Identification of key clients deserve affiliate management . Partner management should primarily focus on the company's largest or best clients. This group should be treated flexibly, expanding it to include companies demonstrating high growth dynamics or leading in the development of new fields. 2) Assignment of a trained manager-mentor to each key client. The salesperson who previously served the customer must receive training in relationship management or be replaced by someone more educated in this area. The caregiver must respond to the client, be selected individually and adapt to him. 3) Development of a clear range of activities of managers - client supervisors. This document must contain the so-called scope of reporting, goals and obligations, and criteria for evaluating managers. Manager - the leader is responsible for any contact with this client. 4) Assigning responsibility for preparing annual and long-term client relationships to each manager. These plans should outline the goals, strategies, detailed actions and resources needed to implement them. 5) Appointment of a general manager who supervises the work of managers - supervisors of the client. This person should include defining the scope of responsibilities, evaluation criteria, and the amount of resources to support the activities of case managers.

When to look for a business partner

There is no clear framework for this. You can look for a partner at any stage of building a business, but most often they are looked for precisely at the stage of the project’s inception. This is due to the fact that a newly minted entrepreneur is faced with difficulties that he is not able to cope with on his own. And to solve these problems, you can find an experienced partner who is ready to help the business with resources and ideas, and also take on some of the tasks themselves.

Let's highlight the main reasons why entrepreneurs start looking for partners to do business:

• Lack of funds.

  It often happens that a startup has a promising idea, but does not have the money to implement it. In this case, a rich partner can help the business.

• Lack of management experience.

  If a young entrepreneur is worried that he does not have enough knowledge in business management, then an experienced partner will be able to help build business processes and organize the work of the new company.

• Lack of self-confidence.

  Some people, due to their character traits, are always afraid to start a serious business alone. They are prone to teamwork and are practically unable to make decisions on their own. Such entrepreneurs are much more comfortable doing business when they have a faithful assistant nearby.

• Problems with one of the main areas of business development.

  For example, a manager is well versed in production processes, but does not know how to sell at all and falls into a stupor when communicating with potential clients. In this case, a partner with experience in sales and the ability to negotiate effectively will be very useful. Specialists will complement each other and successfully develop the startup.

• Rapid startup growth

  . If the company has an intensive growth rate, to which the entrepreneur is not able to adapt the rhythm of the company’s work, then a partner who has previously had similar experience will help him cope with this.

No one person can have an equally good understanding of all areas of the company's activities. It is much more effective to find a partner and divide responsibilities so that everyone works in an area familiar to them.

If you have to trust such a person to manage your business or at least part of it, then you need to look for and choose a partner carefully. Since the future of the young company will largely depend on further communication and work with him.

Financial instruments include:

1) Competitions with prizes. Their goal is to activate participants aimed at increasing sales of supplier products in local markets. In this case, it is extremely important to define the rules of the competition so that each of the potential participants has an equal chance of winning. 2) Training for customer employees. They can be implemented as a separate tool for building loyalty or as an element of marketing activities. Their goal is to improve the skills of the client's employees and stimulate the need for response actions in the form of subsequent orders. Training may cover topics such as the art of negotiation, handling complaints, dealing with difficult customers, interpersonal communication rules, managing one's own image, etc. They may be conducted by the supplier's employees or hired trainers from training companies. 3) Special discounts for loyalty to the supplier. They are a reward for those distributors who buy alcohol from only one supplier, that is, they are completely loyal to him. For such distributors, a separate discount rate is used, which is used only by selected partners. 4) Invitations to trade fairs, which must entitle you to free entry to the fair. Thanks to them, the distributor will be able to visit the supplier’s stand and at the same time get acquainted with industry trends. This is an expression of the supplier's concern for the level of knowledge of its customers, which allows it to obtain information about new products from large manufacturers and importers. 5) Participation in promotions. If the client agrees to promote the supplier's products in the local market, the latter may share in the costs of this advertising. Typically, in such cases, the supplier covers a predetermined portion of the costs based on invoices for the purchase of advertising materials, advertising space, point-of-sale advertising campaigns, etc.

What to look for when looking for a partner

First of all, you need to look for a partner who shares your values ​​or at least understands them. If you and your partner look in the same direction in terms of business development, then the chance of success increases significantly. Otherwise, when partners have no common ground, there is no mutual understanding, the chances of your business collapsing due to conflicts between partners increase.

You should take as partners people whom you trust the business 100%. Only in this case will you be able to build good business partnerships. If you are offered a partnership by a person you don’t know well, try to get to know him better, and only then make a decision.

Many people think that they are 100% confident only in their family. However, we recommend that you think twice before suggesting a partnership to your wife, brother, parents or best friend. If you cannot get along and work together, then there is a high probability of quarreling and losing your warm relationship.

Our family usually knows us in a good, exemplary way, but at work sometimes we have to behave completely differently. Your wife may be surprised to learn that you are a tough and demanding leader. Not everyone can accept our “work” side of personality. In addition, it will be difficult for both of you to switch from business relationships to personal ones.

Authoritarian family as an alternative

It is not always possible to create an ideal marital union. A democratic family is the best option for relationships, but in modern realities such a pattern is very difficult to implement.

Much more common are authoritarian families, where the husband (patriarchy) or wife (matriarchy) has absolute advantage and power over the other members. There is no concept of equality here.

Sometimes an authoritarian family becomes quite strong, and sometimes destructive processes arise due to misunderstanding, deception and stress. For example, systematic quarrels between spouses begin to occur, and they are burdened by mental fatigue. As a result, home no longer becomes the place you want to return to every day after work.

This negative impact is especially reflected on children: their parents snap at them, they are constantly forbidden to do something, and their opinions are sometimes not valued at all. The result is that children are shy, unsure of themselves, have low self-esteem, and bend under the pressure of their peers.

Mistakes when creating partnerships

• Lack of trust between partners.
• Lack of a scenario in case of termination of the partnership.
• Lack of a scenario for additional investments if the business cash flow plan is not met.
• Lack of a clear and understandable system for recording and analyzing productivity.

You can avoid many of the listed mistakes if you agree on everything “onshore”. Discuss in advance with your future partner what will happen to the business and you if something goes wrong and if the project is successful.

It is also better to formalize all agreements legally. This way you will protect yourself and your business from trouble.

We discussed what you should pay attention to when looking for a partner, and how to protect yourself from the troubles of partnership. It's time to talk about how to build productive and warm relationships with partners, so that your communication and joint work only help your business prosper.

Family functions

It doesn’t matter what goals a married couple pursues or what type of family relationship they want to build. Forming a family involves the emergence of certain functions, including:

• Birth of children.
• Interaction with children and development of motherhood/fatherhood skills.
• Development of economic relations, satisfaction of the material needs of all family members.
• A source of love, respect and psychological protection.
• Communication with family members, mental relaxation.
• Primary socialization.
• Intellectual and physical relaxation.

In real life, it is not always possible to see the fulfillment of all the listed points, but a “standard” example of the presence of all functions is a democratic family. What it is? What features does this type of marital union have?

How to build relationships with business partners

Any relationship is work. Partnerships are no exception. To prevent them from exhausting themselves, both parties must invest in them. We'll share 5 tips to help you strengthen your relationships with your partners.

1. Be friendly

Smile when you meet. Be respectful of your partner and be open. We unconsciously sense a person who is attracted to us and in most cases begin to make attempts to get closer to him.

2. Talk more often

This is the simplest thing you can do to peacefully resolve 99% of the conflicts that arise between partners. Sometimes you are even surprised at how stupid, petty and at least strange people are.

Try to communicate not only about work topics. Try to get to know your partner as a person. Maybe it's not just work that unites you? Try to get as close to your partner as possible. This will make it more comfortable for you to resolve work issues and you will begin to trust each other even more.

3. Count your money

Each partner should know where the money in the project is going and coming from, so that no disagreements arise. In terms of finances, you must be in absolute order from the very first day of the partnership.

4. Show care and support

Often partners spend more time together than with their wives or husbands. For them, work becomes a second family and it is not surprising that everyone wants to be supported. It's so human.

Don't forget to praise your partner for small achievements: great negotiations, a good campaign, or something else. Let him relax on vacation by temporarily taking his work on your shoulders. Show him support and instill confidence in your abilities, show him that he can rely on you, and your partner will answer you in the same way.

5. Don’t blame your partner for common failures.

Try to perceive any failures adequately. Don't blame your partner for everything. After all, everyone has bad days. The main thing is not to give up, analyze the situation and rush into battle again.

It is in business with a partner that this becomes even more valuable. When you're alone, you only have yourself to blame. When there is another head nearby, then all responsibility can be hung on it. Most people do just that. This is where they burn.

Duties of the parties

The main group of issues that must be resolved in the agreement under discussion is the determination of the scope of responsibilities of each of the partners. This is especially important when they are heterogeneous. For example, if each of the partners conducts a certain area of ​​​​work:

• advertising and promotion of the company,
• accounting and personnel work,
• ordering goods from contractors,
• organization of product sales

It is recommended that his responsibilities and competence in this regard be specified.

If partners must provide customer service, you should indicate whether they will do this:

• simultaneously,
• according to a predetermined division of working time,
• on a regular schedule.

When using the latter option, it would be wise to define the procedure by which they will establish this schedule. Place special emphasis on cases where they cannot reach an agreement.

Do not forget to provide replacement options in the event of health problems of one of the partners - both short-term illness and longer-term problems that prevent him from fulfilling his duties.