Influence of customer relationship management practices on customer satisfaction among Internet service providers in Nairobi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the customer relationship management (CRM) practices that are adopted by internet services providers operating in Nairobi and their effect on customer satisfaction. In this context, the study examined the practices based on customer knowledge/insight, people, process and technology. The study was descriptive in nature. The population of interest consisted of all internet services providers in Nairobi which according to a list obtained from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) as at 2009 numbered 73 with only 51 of them fully operational.

Given the small number of firms, a census study was conducted. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to the respondents through drop and pick later method. However, in most instances, the researcher was there to clarify on issues, not well understood by respondents. Primary data was collected using a semi structured questionnaire and from the 51 ISPs identified, only 36 organizations participated in the study and which was a 70.5% response rate .. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation.

The results showed that a majority of internet services providers are small scale locally run businesses. This is indicative that the industry is still at its infancy. The CRM practices are based on three broad categories of knowledge & insight, process & technology and people. The companies surveyed carry out CRM practices were highly practiced with storing customer personal and contact information adopted widely.

The findings also indicated that the CRM practices influenced customer satisfaction. The practices based on people influenced customer satisfaction to a large extent while the practices based on process & technology influenced customer satisfaction to a moderate extent In line with the research, it is recommended that a similar study be done as a case by case study that would help bring out some unique findings about specific ISPs organization. It is also recommended that a similar study to be done on purely the challenges of implementation of customer relationship management practices.