ABSTRACT
Until comparatively recently, there has been a presumption that marketing is principally concerned with the processes surrounding the creation of customers for a commercial organization. Thus, decisions concerning the use of the marketing mix were largely geared to this end. In part, this perhaps explains why marketing and sales are often viewed as being one and the same thing. It is undoubtedly true that customer acquisition has historically been the dominant purpose of marketing in the field of financial services. However, from the late 1980s onwards marketing skills and resources have been used increasingly in the context of the existing customer base – that is to say, organizations have increasingly focused attention on
By the end of this chapter you will be able to: ● understand the growing importance of relationship marketing and
customer retention in financial services ● understand the interactions between customer acquisition, customer
retention and marketing activities ● understand the nature and significance of the concept of customer lifetime
value ● be aware of contextual influences on the management of customer
relationships.
