Impact Of Relationship Marketing On Customer Retention In The Banking Sectors In Tanzania: A Case Of National Microfinance Bank In Arusha City Council

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of relationship marketing in customer retention in NMB at Arusha City Council in Tanzania. The study was guided by four specific objectives which were to understand the relationship marketing strategies employed by NMB Bank, to assess customer‟s perception of relationship marketing strategies employed by NMB Bank, to investigate the level of retention in NMB Bank and to examine the impact of relationship marketing strategies on customer retention in NMB Bank. The study involved 75 respondents who were NMB customers and NMB Bank staffs. Purposive sampling was made to obtain respondents. Both questionnaire interview documentation and observation as instruments were used to obtain data from the field. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16.0 and were presented quantitatively and qualitatively by using Microsoft excel through drawing pie charts and descriptions respectively. The findings of the research unveil that NMB Bank appears to be doing not quite well with their customers, more especially in the way they have related to them. Besides, the study illustrates that the bank is not receiving strong positive word of mouth from its clients to their friends and relations although other factors have a strong role to play to why people bank with NMB Bank, since people who joined on their own and those who were contacted by the bank is very significant although not dominant. The bank is not doing well by maintaining the relationship it initiates with its clients but must work on improving the number of contact time with them as relationship marketing provides them with the opportunity to do so. The bank‟s level of adoption of relationship marketing is very low. NMB Bank‟s response to customer concerns is not very impressive. The research recommends to management to look again in the area of bonding, since customers do not particularly feel so much bonded with NMB Bank. Finally, NMB Bank staff must be trained to be more responsive in the form of devoting time to meet all the needs of clients, give fast and efficient service and give sincere and detail information on the solutions that will help solve the challenges of customers.