No abstract

Pricing, especially service pricing, is among the under researched areas. As a result, the fuller potential of pricing is yet to be seen in services marketing and in relationship building. As marketing converts to relationship marketing, pricing too should follow suit and become relationship pricing. It is widely believed that the ways to the heart of the customer are through customisation, communication and emotions. Charging customers for any of the services is certainly not among the favored ways to charm the customers. The paper critiques the existing pricing strategies from the goal of relations building. It follows up the same through a case study of a major corporate hospital that adapted and strategised relationship pricing. Set in the backdrop of a new order of healthcare in India, GNRC hospital -a tertian; hospital in the private sector, is consciously creating a relationship with its customers through a web of creative pricing policy, price bundling and payment systems. The conceptual and the case-based analysis in the paper reflect the fact that pricing is among the more relevant indices to a price sensitive Indian market. It is more so in the northeast of India that is coming out of years of economic exploitation and social neglect. The distinctly poor northeast merits down to earth routes of relationship building. GNRC case offers the same to its customers and probably, a Jew inputs to its fellow healtlzcare providers and to the global customer managers affiliated to the health care services. BACKDROPRelationship building with customers is currently the over-riding goal of marketing (Webster, 1992). In service industries, the goal is especially desired since a relationship customerwhether a repeat, upgrade or cross product buyer, costs significantly lower than a new customer. Similar costing is evident when marketers need to replace the lost customers (Berry, 1983).