Are you ready for relationship marketing? It is a business challenge

Relationship marketing (RM) has become a prevalent approach to marketing. According to the Nordic School of marketing thought, RM cannot be undertaken within a conventional marketing framework. RM has to break traditional marketing borders and permeate large parts of the organization. It cannot be managed by a separate marketing department. It is a larger thinking that requires cross-functional support within the organization. Based on the promise theory and related management approach, an RM grid, which enables the analysis of a firm's readiness for RM, is developed. It is argued that we need to analyse a firm's readiness for RM by addressing two important questions: 'Does the firm know its customers' processes as well as its own processes?' and '"Does the firm understand what its customers' consider good quality versus what's their own perspective of the quality of its offerings?'