The adoption of the holistic marketing concept as a customer retention strategy and its impact on customer retention in the financial industry: A case study of CABS Zimbabwe

Abstract

Customer retention has gradually gained momentum as a vital tool for surviving in the highly competitive environments and increasing revenue. Most customer retention strategies adopted by banks have been over-used and some have since ceased to be as effective, hence the need to introduce a more innovative, coordinated and holistic approach to customer retention. The study, therefore explored the adoption of the holistic marketing concept as a customer retention strategy. The main objective was to establish the extent to which CABS had applied the holistic marketing concept as a customer retention strategy and its impact on customer retention. Various theories and frameworks on the holistic marketing concept and customer retention as discussed by different authors were reviewed. The research was predominantly quantitative with aspects of the qualitative approach incorporated to ensure more depth in the collection of data. The case study strategy was adopted with CABS Zimbabwe being the company under study. Two sets of questionnaires were prepared and administered to customers and staff and a response rate of 93.3% was realised from the respondents. The research results revealed that, though the customer satisfaction levels were high resulting in customers remaining loyal to CABS, the company needed to address the issues of brand visibility, product awareness, communication systems which were found to be lagging behind. Furthermore, the findings showed that there was positive correlation between the variables of the holistic marketing concept and customer retention. It was therefore concluded that CABS, to a large extent had applied the holistic marketing concept as a customer retention strategy and that banks could adopt the concept as a customer retention strategy and reap the benefits. It was recommended that CABS should establish an effective communication procedure for customers, carry out continuous market research and conduct continuous training workshops for staff to strengthen the current customer retention strategies and make them more effective.