No, You are NOT a Transactional Business


transactionalrelationalTransactional or Relational

Many business owners say their business is more transactional, without actually comparing it to any other option. Relational is the other option.

When they say this, they usually mean they are focused on sales, the average order value of the sale is smaller than those of the business they are in discussions with, and the time to sale is shorter.

But what it actually says is that they don’t really know what they’re doing.

And if any portion of their business comes from repeat buyers or reputation, then there is a much deeper level of misdirection at play.

“Transactional marketing is a business strategy that focuses on single, “point of sale” transactions. The emphasis is on maximizing the efficiency and volume of individual sales rather than developing a relationship with the buyer.”
~WhatIs.com

Businesses, to survive, must be transactional, at some point in the engagement. But only a partial handful of business types should ever be strictly transactional. That’s a once and done engagement with the customer.

Business is always about building relationships, to encourage people to trust the business or the product or service enough to pay for it. Whether it’s a one time purchase or not, it requires building a relationship.

The problem isn’t an issue of semantics, even if the business professionals is truly suggesting that they need to focus on a higher volume of sales transactions. It extends deeper, because by saying you’re a transactional business, you reduce the focus on the relationship building aspect of the business.