Abstract:
Telecommunication industry contributes immensely to world economic development in terms of
employment, revenue and improvement in people’s standards of living. Despite such significance, the industry is
experiencing radical changes due to deregulation, privatization, technological dynamism and resultant competition.
Consumer tastes and preferences are also changing, necessitating the need for more aggressive customer retention
strategies. Recent statistics indicate that. telecommunication revenue and profit margins are waning due to competition,
subdued demand, market saturation and customer defection. The objectives of the study are (1) to explore of impact
of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on customer retention in Zimbabwean telecommunication services
(2) to identify customer retention strategies applicable to the Zimbabwean telecommunications industry. The study
used a case study research design. It had been observed that though CRM implementation has potential to provide
several benefits to Zimbabwe telecommunication firm, its adoption in the industry is still slow and protracted.
Secondly, though most Zimbabwean telecommunication operators use loyalty programmes to attract customers,
customer loyalty is declining as evident by high customer churn. It is therefore imperative for telecommunication
firms to adopt Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in order to attract and retain key customers for their
sustainability. Literature confirms that embracing CRM offers firms competitive advantage in the market place.
