The use of differentiating communication tools to attract and retain different generational cohorts: case of a commercial bank in South Africa.

Abstract

It is inconceivable for any organisation to think that communicating with all of its clients using the same communications tools would make these clients more loyal. The problem of using the right tools of communication becomes more complex when the organisation deals with different generations. Previous scholars have emphasised the importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), both as a business philosophy and as part of an organisation’s IT systems to attract and retain clients. The IT systems are put in place so that clients can easily communicate with the organisation and vice versa. The CRM business philosophy is meant to change the method of dealing with clients as a top-down approach. This means top management will create the type of environment in the organisation that positions the needs of customers first. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the use of different communication tools by a commercial bank to attract and retain clients from different generations. The researcher identified four different branches from the same commercial bank in Bloemfontein to conduct the study. The location of these branches in and around Malls was important because it allowed the researcher to get a wide variety of different clients of the bank. A total of 50 clients of the bank per branch were asked to complete a questionnaire. The statistical calculations that were used were frequency tables, cross tables, McNemar test and the Chi-Square test. The research findings revealed that respondents from both generations made use of a variety of traditional and modern communication tools that were given in the questionnaire. It also indicates that this commercial bank at times utilises the wrong communication tools to communicate with these two cohorts, whether it is traditional or modern communication tools. The usage of each specific traditional and modern communication tool is also important. The results indicate that the usage of the specific communication tools for both traditional and modern communication tools vary during the course of the day. This is true for both generational cohort respondents. Based on the findings of this empirical study, the bank should focus more on utilising the specific communication tools that these two generations prefer, whether it is traditional or modern communication tools. The bank should also pay specific attention to the times of the day that these aforementioned communication tools are being used most by the respondents to ensure maximum marketing exposure. This study illustrates that there is no universal rule that dictates that a specific generation will only use a specific communication tool - in this case the Baby Boomer and Generation Y generation. The bank should investigate which modern or traditional communication tools are preferred by their clients the most and then continue with productive two way communication using those tools. This can facilitate the process of making clients more loyal and the process of attracting new clients simpler.