Applied Economics and Finance

Vol. 6, No. 6; November 2019

ISSN 2332-7294 E-ISSN 2332-7308
Published by Redfame Publishing
URL: http://aef.redfame.com

The Importance of Customer Relationship Management in the Local

Government Authorities in Zimbabwe
Douglas Chiguvi1, Elvis Madondo, & Zenzo Dube3
1
Senior Lecturer, Marketing Programmes, Entrepreneurship Department, BA ISAGO University P. Bag 149, Gaborone,
Botswana
2
Faculty of Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, P O. Box 1334, Durban 4000, South Africa
3
Head of Entrepreneurship Department: BA ISAGO University, P. Bag 149, Gaborone, Botswana
Correspondence: Douglas Chiguvi, Senior Lecturer, Marketing Programmes, Entrepreneurship Department, BA ISAGO
University P. Bag 149, Gaborone, Botswana.

Received: February 13, 2019 Accepted: September 2, 2019 Available online: September 24, 2019
doi:10.11114/aef.v6i6.4051 URL: https://doi.org/10.11114/aef.v6i6.4051

Abstract
The aim of the study was to to ascertain the respondent‘s familiarity with the knowledge and importance of customer
relationship management in the local government authorities, as well as to ascertain the extent of the relationship they
have with citizens from acquisition, development, retention and termination of the relationship. Explanatory research
approach and judgemental sampling were employed. Questionnaire was used to collect data from twenty one local
government authorities in Zimbabwe. The findings of the study revealed that customer relationship management forms
a powerful strategy that local government authorities should apply to manage long-term relationships with their key
stakeholders. The researchers concluded that the local government authorities should establish and maintain long lasting
relationships with their stakeholders, in order to be competitive and attract investment.
Keywords: customer relationship management, local government authorities
1. Foreword
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is now a necessity not an option in many organizations. AI-Khouri (2012:
34) states that CRM is an important concept in all businesses because it helps entities to be customer centric and
responsive, citizen-centric and efficient. Christopher and Payne (2013) assert that today‘s markets are highly contested
and they are competitive. Therefore, organizations must spend significantly in customer relationship management. This
assertation was also echoed by Bohling, Bowman, LaValle, Mittal, Narayandas, Ramani and Varadarajan (2006) who
avowed that management should build and develop strong relationships with their clients. Mohammadkazem, Shirazi
and Aarabi (2016) and Hussain (2016) also corroborate that CRM is today‘s engine of improving the business
performance. Creating good relationships clients is important because it increases good quality of information as well as,
helping organizations to understand their clients much better, thus helping local government authorities to deliver
customized products and services to the clients. This sentiment was also expressed by Chamelta, (2006) who mentions
that good CRM ensures that companies drastically change towards a reliable CRM Strategy.
Local government authorities should deliver excellent service in order to increase customer satisfaction. Kamalian,
Ya‘ghoubi and Baharvand (2013) echoed that CRM helps to reinforce relationships between organizations and their
clients and as a result it emboldens innovation within the organization. Nicoletti (2016) posits that for CRM Strategy to
be successful, it must be citizen oriented and should be developed from that perspective. It must be customer centric
rather than focusing on the requirements of the business. The current snags with local government authorities in
Zimbabwe are many. The researcher has observed that employee culture towards CRM is poor. The workers‘ attitude and
mentality towards client is negative. This means that for CRM Strategy to be efficacious there is need of change in public
organizations‘ inner culture and also there is great need of reorientation of the vision by their state bodies. The approach
and character of staff must change, allow a citizen-directed service, and eliminate bureaucratic procedures and focus
more on the actual needs of the citizens.
Local government authorities must put the people at the epi-centre of all their operations (Larsen, and Milakovich,

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2005). Rababah, Mohd, and Ibrahim (2011: 22) purport that in order to serve and retain loyal customers; organizations
need to understand their customers. Historically, the local authorities used to focus on production and selling and did
not focus on market needs and wants. Pollard, Young and Gregg (2006 cited in Dhman, 2011: 35) indicate that CRM is
now highly considered in the public sector because the citizens want excellent services. This is not an exception for
local government authorities in Zimbabwe, hence the need for this study to pinpoint the factors needed for the victory of
CRM Strategy.
Municipalities should prioritize a consistent improvement of the life and well-being of society, through innovation,
active participation as well as dynamic and a supportive economic agency (Keramati, Saremi, and Afshari-Mofrad,
2011). Duque, Varajao, and Dominguez, (2013) explain that public organizations need to be citizen centric and adopt
responsive leadership. They should also eliminate procedures which do not add value. With this view in mind, the
implementation of the CRM Strategy in public organizations and municipalities in Zimbabwe need to be customer
oriented. Information needs to be customized and there is need for effective communication. Through interaction with
clients the municipality can learn more about the habits of its citizens and thus enable strategic decision-making. Duque
et al., (2013) affirmed that local authorities must meet customers‘ expectations at the right time and latest technologies
must be adopted in order to allow citizens to communicate at any time and place.
2. Literature Review
The local government authorities in Zimbabwe are in a transition of moving away from mass marketing to customized
marketing. The winners will claim market dominance if they can fully satisfy their customers. This competition will
enable businesses to increase their purchase volumes and revenue, and attract new investment. It will also generate for
new business references and prospects for identification. The local government authorities, who understand their clients,
are prosperous and the citizens are more willing to do business with the authorities.
Customer relationship management is fundamental for municipalities as much as it is for private companies. It would
ensure and optimize the relationships between companies and their clients. Xavier, Gouveia and Gouveia (2004 cited in
Duque et al., 2013) indicate that organizations which are not able to interact with their clients are finding it difficult to
establish effective long lasting relationships with them. This infers that effective communication is needed to establish
rapport with clients in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe. Duque et al., (2013) mentioned that many CRM
Strategy failures are due to poor interactions between organization and stakeholders.
Customer Relationship Management Definitions
Although the literature is full of CRM definitions, it is relatively novel to the arena of marketing in the local
government authorities in Zimbabwe. Buttle (2009) believes that the CRM can be viewed differently by different people
and it can be used in different situations. However, some people refer to the CRM as customer relationship marketing.
The available literature on the CRM defines CRM differently thereby leading Winer (2001: 91) commenting that it
means diverse things to different people. Peppard, (2000) defines CRM as a tactic to the field of marketing which
incessantly use refined information concerning the existing clients to predict the future requirements of the market. In
this system, current information is constantly and continuously gathered and refined. The information relates to both
current and future customers. Swift (2001: 12) defines the CRM is about influencing client behavior through
well-expressed communications in order to increase retention, profitability, acquisition and loyalty with clients. This
definition is client centric but excludes other communication tools to establish relationships. Buttle (2004:34) defines
CRM as a principal organization plan that incorporates both internal and external networks with clients. CRM is a
product deriving from relationship marketing and improving customer retention through relationship management
(Zineldin 2006: 431). Gummesson (2008) sum it up by positing that CRM is about understanding the customers.
The Emergence of Customer Relationship Management
According to Ahmad, Hussain, Shafique and Abbas (2015: 95) CRM was popularized in the 1980s. This concept forced
organizations to start to foster relationships with customers with the assumption that businesses that understand and
place their client‘s needs at their heart are likely to be prosperous and successful. Hussain (2016) states that the business
might lose customers it has today if they fail to lock them in. This means that CRM essential in today‘s business. It
helps organization to lure, understand and to offer clients better services (Goodhue, Wixom and Waston, 2002). A
corporation can achieve higher profitability by augmenting customer loyalty rather than spending more time on
recruiting new customers (Hussain and Hussain, 2015). The CRM has long been known by earliest merchants to be
ideal for building and retaining relationships with customers (Foss, Stone and Ekinci, 2008). CRM can be used by the
local authorities as a tool to acquire, nurture and retain clients. Bull (2003) argued that CRM is extremely required
among businesses today due to increased global competition. Dhman (2011) explains that the emphasis of CRM is to
establish long lasting collaborations and partnerships with customers. Even though CRM is not easy to apply, it has
grown to play a major role in the business as it helps corporations to gain competitive advantage, and in so doing

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increase profitability (Hussain et al., 2015). CRM enables organizations to understand their customers and this
knowledge help the management to develop the CRM Strategy.
Evolution of CRM of the Local Government Authorities
Traditionally local government authorities were production oriented. However, there is a paradigm shift to customized
marketing. Traditionally, most local government authorities were considering themselves as monopolist who can do
whatever they want without clients‘ consideration. They were production oriented and less focus was directed towards
customer requirements. However, today the playing field has changed as more affluent clients are demanding better
products and services from their local government authorities. There is increased competition for the "Supremely elite".
Also in recent years from 2000, citizens across all cities and municipalities, especially from high and medium density
locations, are more demanding and want best services from the local government authorities. They want better tarred
roads, good sewage drainage systems, consistent garbage collection and clean running water, street lights and efficient
services. In order to meet these Critical Success Factors must be considered to warrant effective execution of the CRM
Strategy from local government authorities. The CRM has the power to help the local government authorities to rapidly
and acquiescently promote growth. The drive to putting into practice CRM initiatives is becoming crucial as a result of
public demand for government to offer improved services delivery (Schellong, 2005).
Elements of CRM
There are four key generic elements of CRM are:
Long lasting relationships
The aim of CRM is to form long lasting profitable relationships with clients (Grönroos, 1989). To achieve this goal two
way communication is required with clients. Effective communication with clients promotes long lasting associations
with customers (Baran, Galka and Strunk, 2008). CRM escalates customer service expectations and enables
organizations to exhibit greater customer recognition and treatment. Long lasting relations only exist when clients trust
the organization. This assertation was also echoed by Egan (2008) who stated that when client‘s requirements and
expectations are met, clients may have a sense of allegiance to the organization. This infers that local government
authorities in Zimbabwe should start to build long lasting relationships with the citizens to ensure the victory of CRM
Strategy.
Decoying gainful clients
The goal of CRM is to find and lure the most profitable clients. The ultimate aim is to maintain and grow the
relationship, through cross-selling and up-selling. CRM seeks to increase the customer lifetime value with trustworthy
clients. Satisfied and faithful clients are easy to convince to buy more and to bring new clients to the organization
(Baran et al., 2008; Buttle, 2004). Trust is essential for customer relationship management. This entails that the local
government authority‘s resources should be used in such a manner that will fortify and keep gainful clients and
simultaneously grow less profitable clients to gainful customers.
Customer management
CRM is not only about acquiring clients but the focus must be directed to the good management of clients. Good
management of clients enables organization to maximize the lucrative lifetime value of the relationship. If clients are
managed effectively, they grow and stay longer in the organization. Loria and Obeng (2005) advised that good
management of customers facilitates CRM Strategy. Customer relationship management escalates customer service
expectations and enables organizations to exhibit greater customer recognition and treatment. This means that CRM
give organizations a competitive advantage (Baran et al., 2008). Customers feel secured if the organizations show
affection to them. This infers that local government authorities in Zimbabwe should show love to their clients if they are
to achieve CRM strategy.
CRM as a system
Customer relationship management should be viewed as a system. This means that effective CRM should involve all the
components of the organization including inputs, processes and output. All the elements of the organization must
work together in order to build total customer value and satisfaction. Disunity among the facets of the enterprise will
destroy long lasting relationships with clients. This means that local government authorities in Zimbabwe should view
the CRM Strategy as a system. Due diligence and strategic alignment and focus is required to ensure the victory of
CRM Strategy.
Customers of the Local Government Authorities
The core idea of marketing is to satisfy the customer requirements and always to plan within ambit of the customers.
According to William and Aakers (2002) it is disastrous to define organizations by their products but must be defined

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according to clients‘ requirements. This implies that prospective and existing clients should be prioritized by the
organizations. Clients include all people and organizations that are doing business with the local authority. The most
common clients of local authorities are citizens, businesses and visitors among others (Kavaratzis and Ashworth, 1990).
Table 2.0 shows different types of clients for the local government authorities.

Table 2. Types of Clients for the Local Government Authorities

Source 1 2 3 4
Types of Clients according to (Van den Berg et Citizens Businesses Visitors Residents
al., (1999), Ashworth and Voogd 1990, Braun
2008)
Types of Clients according to (Kotler, et al., Residents and companies and Visitors Export markets
1993, 2004, Braun 2008) workers industry
Types of Clients according to (Kotler et al., New residents investors Tourism and Foreign investors
2002, Rainisto 2003, Braun 2012) Hospitality
Types of Clients according to (Braun et al., Prospective Prospective Potential visitors Potential investors
2013, 2008) residents companies

In summary, there are four core customer groups of the local government authorities which include existing and
potential residents, visitors, companies and investors (Braun, 2008). For some cities the customer groups are shown in
figure 2.0.

Figure 2. The customers of the local government authorities

Source: (Braun, 2008)

Residents
The initial set of customers‘ covers residents and potential residents and outline what those residents will be looking
from the local government authority. The most obvious response will be a ‗place to live‘. This ‗place‘ is where their
homes and jobs are, that is the area from where they commute to their workplace. It is also a place where they raise
children, shop, and exercise, participate in sport, study and so on (Van Den Berg and Braun, 1999). From a client-based
point of view, citizens desire and appreciate the surroundings with access to amenities in order to live comfortably and
satisfactorily.
Companies
A second set of customers are companies. Van Den Berg et al., (1999) explain that companies need a place where they
can conveniently do business and easily pursue their objectives. From company-based point of view, companies aspire
to do business in an affordable and smart environment with low charges for services such as taxes, rates and so on.
They also expect favorable by-laws and efficient services.

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Visitors
A third set of customers are visitors. Braun (2008) points out that, unlike the residents and companies, visitors have no
intention of settling in the city but just to visit. Therefore, the city becomes the visitor‘s temporary terminus. The
visitors only go there to search for an attractive environment, safe accommodation (hotel, apartment, camping, family‘s
house et cetera), and accessible facilities or locations. The local government authorities should be able to provide such
facilities in order to increase council revenue and customer satisfaction. Visitors may also be attracted by buildings and
public amenities such as cafeterias, parking services, rest-rooms, and transport stopovers and other. They might as well
prefer a central or a peripheral accommodation. Business visitors give priority to the accessibility to their business
appointment while leisure visitors might prefer conveniences to services. Some visitors to some extent value potential
business opportunities or places where they can do business. The local authorities should put in place those expectations
when planning their CRM Strategy.
Investors
A fourth set of customers are slightly different from the other three aforementioned. Braun (2008: 58) argues that
investors should be regarded as the fourth general category of urban customers. He argues that indeed companies and
their owners‘ households are investors. These financiers usually prefer to settle in a city or attractive business
environment. Some investors may not necessarily settle in a place where they invest. These include financial
establishments like banks, insurance companies, pension funds etc. It is vital for the local government authorities to
provide attractive investment opportunities in order to attract investors.
Factors Which Have Led to CRM of the Local Government Authorities
Intense Competition
The private sector and the local government authorities (LGAs) are all taking efforts to appeal to and preserve the
customers. They now consolidate in one place all efforts to provide better customer service leading to delighted
customers. These include new technologies, research facilities, globalized services, and new products.
Well Informed Citizens
Nowadays citizens residing in places administered by the local government authorities are knowledgeable and
cognizant of their rights and what they should get from the service providers. This was necessitated by the advent of
new technology, as today‘s citizens are well informed. This suggests that local government authorities must listen and
provide what is needed to warrant victory of CRM Strategy.
Decline in Brand Loyalty
There is a degeneration brand loyalty lately with customers frequently switching over to better and new introduced
available competitive products and services. As a result, the local government authorities have to upscale their
operations and procedures in order to guarantee victory of CRM Strategy.
Barriers to Effective CRM in the Local Government Authorities
They are numerous factors that inhibit effective CRM in the local government authorities and chief among them
include:
Audience selection: In contrast to the private sector organizations, most local government authorities do not choose
their customers. Quite often they are forced to deal with citizens who do not qualify for the service or benefit they
provide, and as a result those citizens resist local authorities‘ reforms. This significantly increases the cost of acquisition
and of continuation of services. This is the reason why most local government authorities incur huge costs and
expenditure at the expense of the revenue targets.
Poor coordination: local government authorities often experience the interagency problem of being poorly coordinated
internally and across departments and geographies. Lack of standardization of policies and procedures across local
authorities‘ divisions is an obstacle towards effective CRM. There is need for harmonization of policies to ensure
consistency and team work spirit among different facets of the local authority.
Lack of resources: Local government authorities are also affected by lack of resources for designing, building and
optimizing the CRM. It also faces the problem of losing employees to the private sector who are attracted by higher
salaries paid by the private sector. This problem widens the skills gap in the local government authorities.
Long time make decisions: Local government authorities are beginning to understand that customer relationships
management does not only involve technological development. It also involves better service delivery. The slow
recognition CRM programmes in the local government authorities is caused by the fact that only very senior managers
are qualified to make change. This is because the senior managers in local government authorities tend to take longer
time to make decisions and to act on these decisions. This challenge is a barrier towards effective CRM Strategy.

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Lack of performance measures: The measurement culture tends to be activity and content based because of lack of
knowledge of the process, service and value measures. Customer perceptions on the quality of service delivery are often
not taken into consideration. Instead, the public service tends to penalize ―bad news‖, measures or to avoid or disregard
negative customer perceptions. An effective customer relationships management programme quires strong ―honesty‖
measures and improved implementation and performance measures. The organization should be able to measure its
improvement and to tell whether these improvements are recognized by the customers. Poor performance measures are
an obstacle towards effective CRM Strategy.
Outsourcing challenges: National and the local government departments usually outsource functions and processes in
order to reduce costs or to finance replacements of large IT systems. The agreements signed for outsourcing the
functions or processes tend to focus more on the performance criteria than on the customer. As a result, there is slow
improvement in the customer service and in the re-engineering of processes that interface the company and the client
(Hewson, 2003). Local government authorities do not have their own CRM department which is a barrier towards
effective CRM Strategy.
Advantages of CRM for the Customers of the Local Government Authorities
Customers could remain loyal to urban councils if they received greater value for their money. They could also receive
the following benefits, among others:
Enjoy confidence Benefits
Customers prefer to keep service providers they have considerably invested. The local government authorities make the
high service provider switching cost by penalizing customers for cancelled agreements. The customers also pay for time
and psychological costs when they switch service providers. Customers can therefore get more time for other priorities
by preserving a good relationship with a service provider (Rootman, Tait, and Bosch, 2008; Zeithaml et al., 2006). This
benefit is vital for both new the local and foreign investors because they need trust the local authorities before they can
invest their money
Social benefits
Clients need a sense of belongingness. Local government authorities should promote team building programmes to
unite citizens. The aim of CRM is to build networks and collaborations which eventually promote unity and increase
social benefits to the community. The local authorities need to cement their relationships with customers through
dialogue and instant feedback.
Special treatment benefits
Good CRM enables clients to get the services at reduced costs and other incentives like free serviced land, low tariffs,
free street lights and other amenities at low cost. Good CRM strengthen long lasting relationships with clients and
consequently it attracts clients to pay for services they get form local authorities promptly and without delay and less
resistance.
3. Research Methodology
This study followed a realism research paradigm. This is because realists believe that reality is real and assume that a
real world can exist outside the human mind (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Descriptive research design and Judgmental
sampling was employed. The researchers used judgmental sampling to select respondents who have knowledge and
expertise in line to study area of the research. The study used respondents from 21 local government authorities in
Zimbabwe who are working in Marketing and PR departments together with the heads of council departments. From
each the local government authority the management members; Town Clerk, Marketing and PR officers and heads of
department managers were used in the study. Raosoft software sample size calculator was used to determine the sample
size at 95% confidence level with 0.05. Questionnaire was employed to collect the data form 197 respondents and the
questionnaire was administered and conducted in a way that respondent‘s privacy was respected. Since the research data
was random, raw, mutually exclusive, and drawn from a large enough sample, chi square test was employed to
determine whether the sample data was consistent in the study. SPSS was employed to process quantitative data and the
analyzed data was presented in form of tables and charts for easy readability and understanding of the research findings.
4. Data Findings
Importance of Customer Relationship Management
This section aims to ascertain the respondent‘s familiarity with the importance and knowledge of customer relationship
management in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe.

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CRM strategy are well supported

by precise planning and schedule
and in accordancewith Project…

Council employees play a pivotal

role in successfully implementing
customer relationship…

Customer relationship
management creates values for
our customers.

Building relationship could be Neutral

advantageous for our local Strongly disagree
government authority.
Stronly Agree
Our local government authority
is enthusiastic about informing
long term relationship with…

Local government authorities

should establish and maintain
relationships with their…

CRM refers to activities which

are directed towards
establishing, developing, and…

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Figure 4. Respondent‘s level of understanding on customer relationship management

The researchers have found out that many council employees do not know the meaning of customer relationship
management. The results Figure 4.0 depict that only 13% of the respondents were familiar with the definition of CRM
and about 66% of respondents were neutral and 21% totally were clueless on the meaning of CRM. This result
demonstrates that CRM is relatively new in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe and majority are not sure of
what exactly it is. However, majority of the respondents (96%) strongly agreed that the local government authorities
should establish and maintain relationships with their stakeholders. The result demonstrates that the CRM is vital for the
success of the local government authorities in Zimbabwe.
Many of the respondents acknowledged that establishing and maintaining relationships is important. However, a large
number of respondents (80%) were neutral on the statement that the local government authorities are enthusiastic about
forming long term relationship with stakeholders. This is an indication that the respondents were not yet sure on the
preparedness of councils to implement CRM. Furthermore, many respondents (65%) inferred that relationship building
could be advantageous for the local government authorities; and (78%) of the respondents strongly agreed that the CRM
creates value for customers. 80% of the respondents were neutral with the assertion that council employees play a
pivotal role in successfully implementing CRM strategies. This result might be contributed by the negative attitude
council employees are showing to their customers. The respondents felt that council employees were not ready to fully
implement the CRM Strategy. Finally, 70% of the respondents were also uncertain on the assertion that CRM strategies
are well buoyed by accurate planning schedule. In conclusion, the results show that the level of respondent‘s
familiarity with the understanding and importance of the CRM is below par but all the respondents strongly agree that
the local government authorities should create and retain relationships with their clients.
The chi-square p-values are shown below:

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Table 4. Chi-Square Test Statistics

Asymp.Sig
Chi-square

df
Customer relationship management discusses the activities which are focused towards 169.701a 2 .000
creating, nurturing and retaining successful interactive relations.
The local government authorities should create and sustain associations with their clients. 160.968b 2 .000
The local government authority is enthusiastic about forming long term relationship with 181.537b 2 .000
stakeholders.
Building relationship could be advantageous for the local government authority. 179.603c 2 .000
Customer relationship management creates values for our customers. 159.327b 2 .000
Council employees play a pivotal role in successfully implementing customer 157.139a 2 .000
relationship management strategies.
CRM strategies are well buttressed by exact planning and schedule and in accordance 112.394a 2 .000
with CRM Strategy techniques.

Chi-square tests were employed to decide whether the variances in the counting configurations per proclamation were
momentous. The P Value of 0.000 signifies that the sampled data was consistent.

The relationships between the Council and Clients

The relationships between the Council

and clients
Employees Residents Investors Companies Visitors Others

5% 5%
15%
25%
30%
20%

Figure 4.1. The relationships between the Council and Clients

Figure 4.1 revealed that (30%) of the councils have formed relationships with their residents, whilst (25%) of the
councils cited that they have made relationships with companies and (20%) of the councils have made relationships
with the investors. Finally (15%) of the councils revealed having formed relationships with employees. (5%) of the
respondents cited visitors and others respectively. The findings suggest that the local government authorities are not
customer centric. This is evidence that CRM is nonexistent in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe. The
findings are consistent with Moyo (2016) and Amiri et al., (2010) who contends that the CRM is much talked about, but
it is invisible in action. Makumbe, (1998) further argues that the relationship between the local government authorities
and stakeholders in Zimbabwe is low and in most cases non-existent. Kabangure (2016) argues that the relationship is
pitiable due to lack of trust and poor service delivery by the local government authorities. This clearly demonstrates that
the local government authorities in Zimbabwe have derisory relationship with stakeholders. It is vital that strong
relationships are formed with all the stakeholders. The stakeholders are key customers of the local government
authorities and as such they should be considered as valuable assets for the success and growth of the local government
authorities in Zimbabwe.

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Significance of the Customer Relationship Management

Table 4. Significance of CRM
Not significant Slightly significant Significant
Count Row N Count Row N Count Row N
% % %
Starting relationships 0 0.0% 27 13.7% 170 86.3%
Developing relationships 0 0.0% 1 0.5% 196 99.5%
Maintaining relationships 0 0.0% 2 1% 195 99%
Ending relationships 113 57.3% 77 39.1% 7 3.6%

Importance of Starting Relationships in the Local Government Authorities

Importance of intiating relationships in

the local government authorities
Not important Slightly important Important
13.7%

86.3%

Figure 4.2. Importance of initiating relationships in the local government authorities

The result in Figure 4.2 shows that a number of the respondents (86.3%) have powerfully settled that initiation of
relationships with the stakeholders in the local government authorities in Zimbabwe is important. This implies that local
government authorities need to establish and develop relationships in order to achieve CRM Strategy success. This can
be achieved by taking into consideration the ten identified critical success factors seriously. This means that without
establishing relationships it will be difficult to achieve CRM Strategy success in the local government authorities in
Zimbabwe. This result resonates with the findings by Mishra (2009) and Lambert (2010) who mentioned that customer
acquisition is impossible without a strong establishment of relationships between the organization and its clients.
Almotairi (2009) also echoed that without establishing a strong relationship with stakeholders CRM Strategy success is
impossible. This means local government authorities in Zimbabwe must establish good rapport with their clients in
order to CRM Strategy success. They need to understand customer requirements and deliver value and best services to
the stakeholders in order to establish strong relationships with the customers and other publics. Abu Bakar, Saleh, and
Mohamad (2011) and Taghipoor (2013) also cited that establishing relationships will also improve transparency and
accountability in the business.

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Significance of Nurturing Relationships in the Local Government Authorities

Significance of nurturing relationships

in the local government authorities
Not important Slightly important Important

Figure 4.3. Significance of nurturing relationships in the local government authorities

Figure 4.3 revealed that all the respondents‘ strongly agreed that developing relationships is important in the local
government authorities in Zimbabwe. This implies that local government authorities in Zimbabwe should not just focus
on initiating relationships but should invest more resources in nurturing relationships with the customers. This finding
correlates with Kotler (2002) and Wong and Sohal (2002) who confirms that one of the key pillars of CRM is about
developing relationships with stakeholders. Al-Khouri (2012) and Tolmay and Morna (2010) also alluded that many
players in the government sector perish because management forget to develop and nurture relationships with
stakeholders. This was also supported by Amiri et al., (2010) and Moreno and Melendez (2011) who postulated that
many local authorities are good at establishing relationships but they forget to develop the relationship resulting to short
term relationship with clients.

Importance of Maintaining Relationships in the Local Government Authorities

Importance of maintaining relationships

in the local government authorities
Not important Slightly important Important

1%

99%

Figure 4.4. Importance of maintaining relationships in the local government authorities

Figure 4.4 revealed that 99% of the respondents agreed that it is important for the local government authorities in
Zimbabwe to maintain relationships. This finding resonates with the findings by Lee (2008) who mentions that the

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ultimate goal of CRM is to upsurge client retention and client loyalty. This means that local government authorities must
pay attention to the client and meet customer expectations, if they are to ensure and achieve CRM Strategy success (Ash
worth and Voogd 1990). A study by Lee (2008) concluded that CRM retention is vital because it is expensive to acquire
new customers.
In this world of competition, it is therefore vital for local government authorities to retain their profitable customers, in
order to guarantee stable revenue for growth. Azari (2008), Baran et al., 2008), Bordoloi, (2000), Boulding et al.,
(2005), Bull (2003), Camarero et al., (2005) and Da Silva et al., (2007) all concurred that CRM retention is important
that CRM acquisition. They argued that it is cheaper to retain a loyal customer than to acquire a new customer. This
means local government authorities in Zimbabwe must invest a lot in clients‘ retention. Dhman (2011) also confirmed
that satisfied customers (citizens) are easy to manage and motivate compared to strangers. Local authorities must design
CRM strategies to retain customers. This reduces default of payments for the services, hence increasing revenue to the
councils. The authorities must always listen to customers and put in place quick response strategies to satisfy the
customers. The councils must also be innovative and improve on service delivery to enhance service quality.

Need of Ending Relationships in the Local Government Authorities

Importance of ending relationships in local

government authorities
Not important Slightly important Important
3.6%

39.1%
57.3%

Figure 4.5. Need of ending relationships in the local government authorities

The respondents have mixed feelings as to the importance of ending relationships in local government authorities as
indicated in Figure 4.5. The findings show that 57.3% of the respondents agreed that it is important to end relationships,
while 39.1% confirmed that it is not important to end relationships. This means employees in local government
authorities in Zimbabwe are not fully aware of the importance of CRM, since majority of the respondents agreed that it
is important to end relationships. Ernst et al., (2011), Hong et al., (2002); Eid (2007) and Gronroos (1989) all cited that
organizations should avoid the mistake of ending the relationships with the clients.
Hussain (2016) and Lindgreen et al., (2006) also supported the same sentiment that ending relationships with customers
is dangerous as it tarnishes the image of the business. This means that local government authorities must have services
recovery strategies in place in order to maintain long term relationships with customers .This implies that local
government authorities need to educate all the stakeholders the benefits of CRM in order to ensure success of the CRM
Strategy. The above findings are also proven by chi-square p-values calculated in Table 4.1, as depicted below on the
need of initiating, developing, maintaining and ending relationships in local government authorities in Zimbabwe.
The chi-squares p-values are illustrated in Table 4.1 below:

Table 4.1. Chi-Square Test Statistics

Starting Nurturing Retaining Terminating
relationships relationships relationships relationships
Chi-square 325.030a 315.042b 279.698b 9.642c
df 1 1 1 1
Asymp.Sig. .000 .000 .000 .009

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Applied Economics and Finance Vol. 6, No. 6; 2019

Deducing from the results in Tables 4.0 and 4.1, very little importance is given to termination relationships. These
findings affirm Miranda et al., (2005)‘s affirmation that more care is directed to the creation and development of
relationships compared to maintaining and terminating relationships. It is fair to ensure that equal importance is given to
all the forms CRM (Little and Marandi, 2003). The local government authorities should pay attention to clients who are
terminating relationships and arrange exit interviews in order to find the reasons of leaving. Hung et al., (2010) and
Morrel et al., (2001) posited that feedback helps to improve and cement relationships as well as improving excellent
service delivery in the local government authorities.
5. Contribution of the Study to New Knowledge
Government support in the form of grants to the local government authorities is diminishing despite the allocations of
resources to the local councils in Zimbabwe. Competition in terms of provision of services and service delivery is also
getting tougher between the local councils and the private sector in the areas of waste collection and provision of
ancillary services. This growing evidence is a sign that the playing field and ways of doing business in the local
government authorities in Zimbabwe has changed and as such connections need to be put together with stakeholders to
confirm that the stakeholders are embraced in the value chain delivery system.
6. Conclusion and Recommendation
This study found that good mutual relationship enables the stakeholders to view the local government authorities as
customer centric institutions. The research study also found that the local government authorities in Zimbabwe are
operating with limited resources and consequently they are often under great pressures that sometimes befuddle them
from giving care to their relationships with strategic stakeholders. Council employees need to be involved and enthused
to support the CRM Strategy. All the stakeholders need to understand how the CRM system operates so that they will be
eager to become accustomed it. It is therefore, recommended that local authorities need to train and develop their staff
in order to garner their support. This will help to guarantee victory of CRM Strategy. The local government authorities
in Zimbabwe must mobilize all stakeholders to rally behind CRM Strategy initiatives and projects. Also in order to
survive and gain competitive advantage the local government authorities need to develop right strategies and maintain
long lasting relationships with stakeholders. Resident partaking in the undertakings of the local authority is now a
necessity in the local government authorities. Citizens opinions are to be treasured if excellent service quality is to be
accomplished. It is therefore, recommended that the local government authorities must form partnerships with the
residents and other stakeholders in order to promote mutual understanding and positive collaborations in service
delivery. Currently the study result shows that there is a gap in terms of communication between councils and their
stakeholders. This infers that the local government authorities need to promote effective communication with the
stakeholders and must also pay attention to clients‘ grievances on time. This recommendation must be taken seriously
by the local government authorities because it promotes customer satisfaction and delight hence ensuring victory of
CRM Strategy.
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