| dc.description.abstract | Many firms have expended much of their resources in customer acquisition and at
times ignoring customer retention knowingly or unknowingly. Customers have been
seen to comfortably stick to their current suppliers as long as they receive higher
perceived value to what they are actually paying for. In Kenya, mobile
telecommunication market remains a very fluid area. The existing studies in this area
however, have paid little attention to organizational strategies for customer retention.
This study therefore was out to investigate strategies for customer retention in the
mobile telecommunications sector in Kenya. In particular, the study sought to
establish the role of organizational strategy around customer retention in Kenya‟s
mobile service providers and to determine how organizational strategy impacts quality
of service and enhance customer retention in these firms. A descriptive survey
research design was adopted in the study. The research was broadly a qualitative
study.An analysis was done on studies that have been conducted in the area according
to the objectives. Managerial perspectives into the strategies for customer retention
was also examined using quantitative data collected from strategy managers in three
mobile service providers (Safaricom, Airtel and Orange Kenya Ltd). Primary data was
obtained from strategy managers in the three mobile service providers using a
questionnaire designed by the researcher. Secondary data was also obtained from
various past studies on customer retention strategies including journals, books, reports
and internet sources as well as reports by Communications Authority of Kenya.
Quantitative data was analyzed and the output generated in frequencies and
percentages while qqualitative data was analysed through content analysis where it
was organized into thematic concepts based on objectives of the study. According to
the findings, telecommunication companies ought to develop strategies that give their
customers a greater value relative to that of competitors to enhance customer
retention. Findings also indicated that the quality of service sort by an organizational
strategy should be in accordance with what the customer perceives as “quality” to
them and not what the organization perceives as “quality” to the customer. Mobile
telecommunication companies make efforts to understand customers‟ needs and
address them. It was also noted that to achieve customer satisfaction loyalty, all
service encounters offer an opportunity to provide superior service quality and
distinguish the firm from its competitors. In conclusion, mobile telecommunication
companies must ensure that their strategies are perceived as the best by the customers
who can otherwise be lost to the rival companies if these rival companies devise a
better strategy targeting the same customers. It is imperative for them to ensure that
their strategies address the quality of their services in the best interest of their
customer. The organizational strategies should lead to satisfactory services/products
in the eyes of their customers, for them to reap the benefit of customer retention even
in instances where the price could be slightly higher than that of the competitors. The
study recommends that mobile service providers should concentrate on meeting the
customer‟s expectation and offer more benefits to the customer. They should also
endeavour to satisfy their customer through the provision better services than the
competitors and not necessarily lower prices than the competitors. | en_US |
