CHAPTER ONE

1.0     INTRODUCTION
1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
To stay in business entails continuous business transaction between a company and its various customers. much is involved in achieving a big term survival needs.
Customers patronage is one of the major ingredients for a company’s long existence .patronage is one of the major ingredients for company’s long existence .patronage from the customer is achieved only when a company provide products and services that are able to satisfy the needs of such customer’s. This is the essence of employ marketing. 
Marketing is define, by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from the producer to the final consumer or user.
The institute of Marketing Britain defines marketing as management process which identifies, anticipates, and satisfies consumer requirement profitably. As economic environment changes so also does the underlying, philosophy of business operation changes initially business emphasis was on production which was actually spurred by the advent of industrial revolution of 1700 AD. Later, emphasis was shifted from production to product and to selling concepts .However, it is necessary to explain what the philosophy so if relates to production concept was all about them.
The first philosophy which was based on product orientation made management to reason in order to make profits, a business organization should seek to produce well and a fairly priced product .The emphasis was on mass production of goods as a way of reducing cost. It was established that mass production only led to excess products.
Attention then shifted from the product to selling orientation which was then solely reached upon to despise of the excess created by mass production. under the sales Orientation ,the emphasis was on selling techniques such as advertisement, sales promotion and the uses of salesmen. The inability of the sales orientation to solve the problem of glut eventually led to the emergency of marketing concept. Unlike the two earlier business philosophies of the customers. It states that the business Organization should take its direction from the market (transaction point) place by seeking to identify and satisfy the needs of Customers. By so doing, the attainment of the Long —term goals of the organization is enhanced. This is so Since customer patronage is pre-requisite for the organization survival and for the achievement of its goals further more, the marketing concepts, presupposes that the profitable satisfaction of the needs of customers can best achieved by co-ordinating and integrating all the activities of the organization.
The realization that the roots of continuing sales success stem back into the heart of the business led to the condition whereby customers needs satisfaction was taken into consideration by companies. Hence the modern marketing concepts which was Originated in 1950.
To a considerable degree, marketing concept has become a key ingredient of business philosophy, Mc Carthy (1964) view the concept as a central guide for action and planning by general management. Foster (1984) maintains that the basics of marketing concepts applies to services industries as such as to manufacturing .He went further to say that there might only be need to modify the techniques and tactics to suit the unique quality of intangible produce of servicing industries.
Services are those  seqparately identifiable essentially intangible activities that provides want satisfaction .Banks are services oriented and need to supply marketing concept as a guide to their effective operation. However, significance differences do exit between product marketing and service marketing .The strategies and practices used in conventional product marketing often are in appropriate for service marketing due to unique special characteristics of services between which are different from those of the product.
Service are INTANGIBLE .It is highly impossible for smell before they purchase them.  The intangible of service makes ownership not transferable. 
Service are INSEPARABLE from the seller, hence they are sold and consumed almost at the same times.
Heterogeneity is another characteristic of services .it is not possible for service provided or rendered by service industries to be standardized .the quality of services rendered at different time differ.
Finally services are highly PERISHABLE in nature and therefore cannot be stored.
The researcher look at marketing concept as applied by financial serve industry with particular reference to commercial banking activities and a case study of United Of Bank Africa.
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Commercial Banks need marketing their services to their various customers. As performance is the key word, bank staff especially the cashiers and other clerk serve as the image maker of Commercial banks as they deal directly with the customer.
Customers in nearly all the banks in Nigeria have at least for one time or the other complained about the poor services rendered as many customers have become less aggrieved with the services received from these banks.
Customer’s complaints centre around   unnecessary waste of their time by bank officials during deposits, withdrawals, and other banking services, preferential treatment, Poor human relation and rudeness of bank officials to customers, difficulties in securing overdrafts and inadequate infrastructure facilities (like parking space for customer’s convenient waiting hall, toilet etc).
The inefficiency of banks and their poor performance are result of non-applicability or lack of knowledge of the modem marketing concept. And it is on this basic that this research topic was chosen to find out how marketing concept in United Bank of African was applied to improve better performance.
1.3 . PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The major aim of this research work is to carry out a critical study of united bank plc operations Onitsha main branch.The study is intended to fmd out.
(i) Whether the relationship between bank officials and customer are cordial.
(ii) The activities of marketing department of the bank if such exist at all.
(iii) How the customer get informed on the availability of the services rendered by the bank.
(iv) Lastly, to evaluate the customer’s view and complaints about the banks services as said in statement of the problem.
1.4.    RESEARCH QUESTION
The following research questions were formulated to enable the researcher to carry out appropriate investigation. 
(i)      How long do customers spend during business transaction. 
(ii)     What is the average duration period for current account transaction?
(iii)    How do you differentiate this bank and others banks, in terms of treating customers.