The Effective Use of Relationship Marketing Strategy for Customer Satisfaction and Retention by CBZ Bank in Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

Inferring from the current body of knowledge, it can be concluded that relationship marketing has many advantages such as increased customer satisfaction, referrals, repeat purchases, cross-selling opportunities and high profits. However, most of these studies were conducted in other parts of the world whose contexts may differ from that of Zimbabwe. Accordingly, this study seeks to determine the effectiveness of relationship marketing as a strategy for enhancing customer satisfaction and retention. The research will use a questionnaire to collect primary data from managers and personnel in sales and marketing departments of the sampled banks. Apart from the primary data emerging from this study, the researcher will use the current literature to understand effectiveness of relationship marketing on customer satisfaction and retention of commercial banks in Zimbabwe. The insights to be gained from this study will benefit many stakeholders including bank managers, policy makers, scholars and researchers. The researcher applied a multiple case study approach involving 5 commercial banks. The researcher adopted a quantitative approach to collecting primary data. Data analysis was done using statistical methods involving graphs and frequency distribution tables. The findings from this study demonstrated that relationship marketing is an effective strategy for enhancing customer satisfaction and retention as shown by the increase in profits and return on assets. The study also established that there are several dimensions that are relevant in consumer service relationships which are trust, commitment, communication, empathy, responsiveness, bonding and reciprocity. The study also established that banks in Zimbabwe encounter several challenges during the implementation stage of relationship marketing. These challenges were identified as poor coordination, lack of communication, resistance to change, high cost and the need for training on personnel. Inferring from the research findings, this study recommends that commercial banks in Zimbabwe should adopt relationship marketing, since it was reviewed in chapter four and from the data that was collected, that it increases customer satisfaction, cross-selling opportunities, goodwill and the cost to serve a customer.