Assessment of Customer Relationship Management Practices in Selected Private Banks: A comparative study

Abstract

This research studies customer relationship management practices (comparative study) in selected private banks in Mekelle, Ethiopia. CRM as a strategy has gained tremendous interest among researchers and practitioners in recent times. Thus, the study tries to assess the status and ways CRM has been put in to practice by selected Ethiopian private banks. In addition, this research considers different CRM dimensions such as trust, reciprocity, empathy, bonding and responsiveness. To achieve the objective of the study, primary data were collected through questionnaire from sample of 253 bank customers of Wegagen bank, Dashen bank and Bank of Abyssinia, Mekelle, Ethiopia. These respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis method and SPSS as a tool of data analysis. Interviews were also conducted with management bodies of the selected private banks in Mekelle city. The result of the study indicated that, there are several loopholes; such as, lack of continuous supervision and monitoring in the quality of bank services, weakness in giving individualized attention to customers, heavy reliance on suggestion boxes to get feedback from customers, lack of technological advancement etc. In addition to the above findings, the common challenge of the selected banks is network interruption. The finding also suggests some measures which can be taken in to consideration in order to enhance CRM practices of the three selected banks. The study also clearly revealed that the five CRM dimensions are strongly related. Thus, from customers as well as management bodies of the three banks perspective, CRM has a significant influence on customer retention of the selected banks. Generally speaking the three banks are in need of doing a lot of CRM based customer focused practices. However, in implementing CRM in to practice, the selected banks had their own gaps. Comparing the selected private banks on their ability of implementing CRM practice, Dashen bank was found to be better implementer, followed by Bank of Abyssinia and Wegagen bank, respectively. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher forwards some recommendations as; continuous supervision on the quality of services, provision of training to employees, and recurrent research on customer needs may help the banks to achieve their objectives.