When it comes to customer relationships within the framework of the Business Model Canvas, we are talking about the ways that you will interact with each customer segment.
What type of relationship does each of your customer segments expect you to establish and maintain with them?
Do they demand technical assistance and hand-holding during the sales process such as the face-to-face interaction you receive when you buy a new car or home?
Will a person on a phone be able to answer questions and handle their orders such as when you order a new pair of shoes from Zappos be ok?
Perhaps they expect an automated system, such as a website like Amazon, that remembers your past orders and offers recommendations or Dell, where you can customize and build a new desktop computer.
Perhaps they expect a self-service relationship such as a simple e-commerce site or a WalMart experience.
Collectively, when it comes to identifying the customer relationship you will use, you need to also understand:
Which ones you have already established?
How can they be integrated with the rest of our business model?
How costly are they are to implement and maintain?
When we talk about integration, we are really talking about the back-end systems you will use for managing your company’s interactions with your current and future customers. Integration often involves using technology such as Customer Relations Management (CRM) software to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.
Do you have a clear picture of the customer relationships each customer segment expects you to establish and maintain with them?
