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CRM ( customer relationship management ) systems , with distribution or with marketing . For many food companies , collaborating with marketing expert Proctor & Gamble would be a major help . Collaborate with parties that can help you supply or service the customer in a flexible and customised manner , and so to boost your relevance for that customer . standardisation committees , who will formulate an ISO standard that defines the diameters , shapes and network protocols , which all manufacturers will then apply to their products . Other industries deliberately choose not to : because HP ink cartridges only work in HP printers , HP can afford to market the printer at very low prices , and then make a profit selling more expensive cartridges .
Many distribution channels have a customer relationship to some degree , and can be a good partner here . But bear in mind the importance of making agreements about exclusivity and customer ownership ( see Chapter 5 ).
Recurrent turnover
Recurrent turnover , as through razor blades , printer cartridges and vacuum cleaner bags , but also maintenance contracts for a variety of appliances also represent an excellent source of profit . As it can be quite challenging for a company to supply both the initial product and the disposable items , this is an evident area for partnerships to be forged . Where it concerns complementary products ( for instance rechargeable batteries and the recharger , paint and paint brushes ), agreements can be made between the complementary suppliers to ensure that these products are compatible . Although this requires coordination and perhaps some after-care , this can constitute an important and distinctive sales argument .
Little beats the pleasure of knowing for sure that two components will work together ; for example that a drill bit will fit your electric drill , a DVD will play in your DVD player , and that your Samsung hard disk will interface with your Dell computer . Many of such potential problems are solved by international
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Network-related profit
The value of a network is equal to the number of users squared 28 . This already became clear at the time of the introduction of telephone and fax . The first person to own a fax could not put it to any use ; owner 2 could fax 1 other person , and by owner 10 there were 45 fax connections available . With the advent of the Internet , all sorts of networks , market places and user groups could emerge and grow rapidly . Examples are sites such as YouTube , Hyves and LinkedIn .
The business profile site LinkedIn has some 90 million users , while the more informal profile site Facebook has over 400 million ( as per 2010 ). Then there are sites such as Flickr , Myspace and Hyves , and Plaxo and Naymz for the business world . Such ( business ) sites allow one to upload some sort of CV and to establish network links with your relations . However , users tend to engage with just one or two networks , which means that not all relations can be reached .
If two or more parties bundle their customers or connections in a new network concept , the immediate result is a much wider reach of relations for the customer . This increases the value of the network , but can cause a loss of Internet traffic and hence of advertising revenue for certain providers . The impact will be less for larger , more established players than for newcomers .