RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMERS PATRONAGE OF MONEY DEPOSIT BANKS IN PORT HARCOURT
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RELATIONSHIP MARKETING ON CUSTOMERS PATRONAGE OF MONEY DEPOSIT BANKS IN PORT HARCOURT
ABSTRACT
The competitive character of our capitalist economy has clearly forced the use of certain strategies by banks in order to maintain customer loyalty, stay in business, and outwit competitors. Herein lies the essence of connection as a communication, marketing, and public relations strategy focused at retaining consumer loyalty.
On that basis, this study, among others, investigates the impact of relationship marketing on bank patronage, with a focus on Zenith Bank’s Port Harcourt city branch. For the purpose of this study, a survey research design was used to study a representative size of the population.
A total of 371 samples were collected from a target population of 1,452 academic staff at the College of Health Sciences Port Harcourt campus and a target population of 2568 business men, 200 of whom were studied.Similarly, a sample of six was purposefully chosen from a total of thirty Zenith Bank employees at the Port Harcourt city branch.
Questions constructed in the Likert Scale Format were utilised as the primary data collecting tool, with mean scores used for analysis. The findings demonstrated that Zenith Bank’s Port Harcourt city branch frequently carried out numerous relationship activities in accordance with the socio-cultural norms of the people of Port Harcourt, which had a favourable impact on client patronage.
The study indicates that such relationship marketing activities highlight why the College of Health Sciences Port Harcourt Campus of the University of Port Harcourt Awka still uses Zenith Bank as their official bank, despite staff members advocating for a change of bank.
The study also found that businessmen accepted Zenith Bank’s relationship marketing. As a result, the report suggests that Zenith Bank PLC increase its community social responsibility initiatives in order to maintain a consistent long-term relationship marketing and patronage focus.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study.
Relationship marketing (RM) tries to build, maintain, and improve relationships between an organisation and its clients for a profit in order to meet the organization’s objectives.
When a relationship is developed between customers and the company, brand loyalty is created through recurrent purchases, which leads to increased revenues for the company (Victor 1990:36).
Relationship marketing is a concept that has gained prominence in recent years. Companies and banks are realising the importance of building relationships with their customers. As a result, they are now more proactive in developing meaningful relationships.
Leonard Berry first established this notion in 1983, stating that relationship marketing was built on creating a long-term relationship with a consumer for the aim of patronage while keeping in mind that other competitors are always available (Yan and Wu, 2007).
According to Doyle and Stern (2006:3), relationship marketing is a long-term, continuous sequence of transactions between partners in which one believes the other to deal fairly, dependably, and helpfully. Relationship marketing has so evolved as “a popular new paradigm” as the focus shifts from customer acquisition to customer retention.
It is likely to move once more and develop into customer relationship management (CRM) with a hybrid of marketing relationship programmes ranging from outsourcing market exchange to customer contacts” (Sheth & Kellstall,2002:30).
It follows that when a positive working relationship is established, bargaining time and expenses are decreased, and transaction patterns become more predictable and secure.
Because of rising competition, today’s banks are learning about and implementing relationship marketing strategies. To keep these consumers, banks are now focusing on developing meaningful relationships with key customers, as well as managing those relationships more proactively (Connor, Galvin, Evans, 2004:16).
Relationship marketing aims to offer a more holistic, personalised brand experience (service) in order to strengthen consumer relationships. According to Kottler and Armstrong (2009:14), a variety of organisations now provide services and relevant facts to individual clients based on information such as previous transactions, demographics, psychographics, media, and distribution preferences.
By focusing on their most profitable customers, products, and channels, there is a strong chance of achieving profitable growth and capturing a larger portion of each client’s expenditure through high customer loyalty.
Relationship marketing focuses on retaining existing customers because acquiring new consumers can cost up to five times as much as keeping an existing client.
If Zenith Bank PLC and other commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, want to grow their customer base, they must train their workers to cross-sell and up-sell their goods.
Long-term partnerships between businesses and their consumers must be recognised for the benefits of decreased costs and higher profitability. Customers, on the other hand, will benefit from transactions with an organisation that understands them and their needs, as well as a trustworthy financial service provider.
Simply described, relationship marketing encompasses all activities and efforts of a corporate organisation focused at developing and maintaining good relationships with clients.
This is necessary since the client is at the centre of organisational activity. There is credence in the increasing pace of competition in corporate circles, particularly in the banking industry.
Victor (1970:11) recognised that “the key to successful marketing is having the right product at the right price in the right place with the right promotion”. Finally, it is up to the client to decide whether these four characteristics are appropriate.
The consumer is thus fundamental to the four Ps of marketing: price, place, promotion, and product. The customer determines the significance of the 4Ps through patronage. Thus, the 4Ps of marketing may be aimed at patronage.
However, relationship marketing appears to go beyond patronage and seeks to secure the customer’s loyalty. In this case, the corporation should not define the business organisation solely in terms of profit, but rather as a responsible citizen whose primary goal is to provide for the well-being of its consumers.
On this point, business organisations like as banks and even GSM service providers participate in programme sponsorships and community social responsibility projects in their respective localities, and, in most cases, beyond. In his apparent eulogy to this, Arens (2006:241) stated, “A market-driven firm’s overarching goal is to produce happy, committed consumers.
Customers, not products, are the lifeblood of the firm.” This is demonstrated by the fact that “customers can select from a wide range of products and services offered by producers located all over the world.”
As a result, the client connection, of which the sale is merely the beginning, is the critical strategic resource of the successful twenty-first century corporation (Fredrick 1994:22).
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