Challenges of implementation of customer relationship management strategy in Nairobi city water and sewerage company

Abstract

The main goal of the study was to determine the challenges of implementing customer relationship management (CRM) strategy in Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC). The study employed a cross section survey design where respondents were interviewed at a one point in time study. The population of the study comprised employees of NCWSC who included: the Managing Director, the Commercial Director, the ICT Manager, Customer Relations Manager, Billing Manager, some Regional managers and the support staff who were part of the implementation team and some users in the commercial directorate. This was because these were the people with the best insights on the challenges of implementing CRM strategy in NCWSC.The study mainly used primary data which was information gathered directly from respondents by use of an interview guide. The data collected was mainly qualitative hence content analysis was adopted for data analysis; the findings were presented in prose. The major challenges identified included: many employees were resistant to embrace new technology at their places of work and stuck to the manual way of running operations i.e. change management; few employees in essence knew what CRM meant hence appreciate the concept to a less extent, the strategy applied by management was not effective hence faced resistance and inconsistent and inaccurate customer data; inadequate skills of the implementation team, data migration, knowledge transfer, and evaluation of the system among others. From the study findings, the researcher recommends that the organization should come up with specific mitigation measures to counter the challenges. As regards future areas of study, a broad based study on the challenges facing effective implementation of the CRM strategy and how it impacts on performance of both public and private organization should be conducted.