This study was motivated by the need to establish whether Broad Bank implement or practice the marketing concept. The customers and personnel of Bank surveyed in the study.
The research instrument used for data collection were mainly questionnaires and interview guide. Data collected were organized and analysed by putting them into tables, frequencies and percentages. The research questions were answered based on the data in the table.
Data analysis and interpretation produced the following findings.
Based on the findings, the following recommendations are put forward to improve on the quality of bank services.
The conclusion of the study is that implementation of the marketing concept in Broad Bank is still not satisfactory but the above recommendations can be used to improve on the level or quality of services given to customers.
The marketing concept is an important management philosophy used in t he operation of business today. But before this concept came to be accepted, there were other business philosophies such as the production and selling concepts. However with the change of circumstances and prevailing competition in the business world the marketing concept emerged and came into focus.
As competition between businesses geared up it became imperative to turn attention to customers needs and wants. The marketing concept arose to challenge all other previous concept, the marketing concept holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors.
The marketing concept is a management philosophy, orientation or frame of mind which the marketer works with. It is based on a market focus customer orientation co-ordinate and profitability (Kotler 1997, pp. 19 – 23). Marketers have long argued that the marketing concept is the appropriate philosophy for conducting business. Simply stated the marketing concepts suggest that an organization should satisfy consumer needs and wants in order to make profits. To implement the marketing concept organizations must understand their consumers and stay close to them to provide products and services that consumers will purchase and use appropriately (Peter and Oston: 1996 p. 6). From what is being seen and read today in the society not all business organization adopt the marketing concept for example midst of scarcity the customer is not the king rather it is the seller that is the king most companies do not relay grasp or embrace the marketing concept until they are driven to it by circumstances like sales decline, low growth, changing of patterns by customers competition and increase in market expenditure. There is now fierce competition in the banking industry in Nigeria. This competition could be traced to 1986. The banking environment in Nigeria before the late 1980s was less turbulent than after wards.
However with the deregulation of the system in 1986 new banks were licensed. This led to an increase in the number of commercial and merchant banks from 40 in 1985 to a total of 120 in 1991 when further licensing was stooped. This fueled competition among banks (Asogwa: 1995, pp. 98 – 1001).
Today after the bitter incidence and experience of bank failures, the surviving banks are still pacing a very competitive environment. There is now strong battle amongst banks to win customers patronage.
Every bank is facing stiff competition from other banks. These banks operating in Enugu metropolis including the first generation banks (First bank, Afri bank, Union bank and UBA) the new generation banks (All States Trust Bank, Standard Trust bank ad Board bank) community bank, people bank and other financial houses (such as Alex Finance, Amex Savings and Loans Harvard Savings and loans).
Faced with competition, it becomes imperative to engage in sustained and appropriate marketing strategy. So banks in Nigeria today appreciate the need for marketing their services because they know they cannot survive without using marketing strategies, unlike before when most banks did not consider marketing as being necessary departments which plan their marketing strategies, customer satisfaction has become the focus of banking operations. This is evident in the way several banks have re-engineered their operations or introduced computers to facilitate their operations to enhance customers satisfaction. In addition most banks today have introduced new products aimed at attracting and giving customers satisfaction. In short banking business in Nigeria today has become marketing oriented or more specifically consumer oriented.
However there are still some lapses or gaps in the practice of marketing concept by banks. Even though the practice of marketing concept has become adopted in banks, we still hear complaints from customers that their needs are not being satisfied. This is especially the case here in Enugu metropolis where several banks like first Bank, Standard Trust bank UBA and Union Bank are operating customers are dissatisfied with the service they receive from banks. They are subjected to extreme discomfort before they can make their withdrawals. They spend endless hours in the banks before they could effect withdrawals or deposits. Quite often the behaviour of bank staff does not actually show that they are practicing marketing concept or attaching importance to customer satisfaction.
This study is an effort to determine or discover if Broad bank of Nigeria PLc operating in Enugu metropolis is actually practicing the marketing concept or whether they are just paying lip service to it, broad bank is used to examine the customers point of view with giving their customers satisfaction.
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