Customer Retention Strategies Effectiveness in the Zimbabwean Medical Industry: Perspectives from Cellmed Health Fund

The main objective of the study was to examine customer retention strategies at Cellmed Health, from the period 2012 to 2018. The focused was mainly on impact of customer retention strategies on market share, profit and sales turnover. A descriptive survey design was used with both qualitative and quantitative methods. Sixty participants from Cellmed Health were involved in the research. The study used both primary and secondary data where the primary data was collected using questionnaires and interviews while the secondary data was obtained from annual reports and magazines of the company. Descriptive statistics of mean, frequency and percentages were used to analyse demographic characteristics of the respondents. Regression analysis was used to measure and predict the relationship between the customer retention strategies and market share, profitability and sales turnover. Findings were that Cellmed used monitoring customer relationships strategies, market intelligence, loyalty programs and promotions to maintain its competitiveness. Furthermore, it also concludes that there was a significant relationship between customer retention strategies and profit as well as sales turnover that the company (Cellmed) was posting annually. In this light, the study recommendation was that customer retention strategies should be embrace in the decision making processes of the organisation covering products, price, services, responsiveness, tangibility and reliability of the brand name. The study also recommends that Cellmed Health should strengthen its customer bonds and moreover, in order to increase customer retention rates, Cellmed Health should provide extraordinary customer services.