ABSTRACT
The customer retention among the insurance companies in Malindi town has been declining Khasaya. Compared with other financial institutions in the area, the attraction of the new customers has been inadequate within the insurance companies. Most customers open accounts with insurance companies in Malindi Town but make minimal transactions with those insurance companies such as insurance cover among others. Thus formed the basis of the current study that the influence of personal selling strategies and customer loyalty among insurance companies in Malindi town, Kilifi County, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The targeted population was 967 employees working among the four insurance companies in Malindi. The unit of analysis was Gateway insurance company limited, Marangi insurance agency, Blue shield Company Limited and Tausi Insurance Agency. The unit of observation was sales managers, salespersons and customers. The sample size was 283. SPSS was used to organize code and generate a quantitative report. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that canned selling strategy, systems selling strategy, features selling strategy and consultative personal selling strategy were positively related to performance. The study concluded that canned selling strategy, systems selling strategy, features selling strategy and consultative personal selling strategy was positively and significantly associated with customer loyalty. Moreover, the study concluded that selling strategy, systems selling straties, features selling strategy and consultative personal selling strategy were positively and significantly related to customer loyalty. The study recommended that the insurance agencies in Malindi can utilize the canned selling technique, system selling methodology, features selling system and individual consultative strategy to build the devotion of the clients since they have a personalized experience. Moreover, the research suggests that based on the level of completion in the market, the management in all insurance companies in Kenya to carry out various personal selling strategies to enable the companies to grow and diversify their portfolio to minimize losses and cut down the cost thus enhancing their competitiveness. Moreover, the study recommended systems selling strategies should be put in place to improve operational efficiency and improve the decision-making process to increase their performance. The study also suggested insurance to be more involved in advocating selling their products by clearly establishing the features of a product before making the presentation and to be revealing all the components of any product without hiding any information.
