ABSTRACT
This research examined the effect of relationship marketing in customer retention in MTN Nigeria Plc, Calabar. The study was conducted in a bid to provide empirical evidence on the effect of relationship marketing in customer retention in order to assist MTN Nigeria Plc and other telecommunications companies to boost their customer retention capabilities through effective relationship marketing strategies. The study had the specific objectives of examining the effect of trust, communication and customer care on customer retention in MTN Nigeria Plc, Calabar. The research design adopted for this study was the cross-sectional survey research design. The research instrument used for this study was the structured questionnaire which was confirmed for validity using the content validity and confirmed for reliability using the test-retest method. Analytical techniques comprising simple tables, percentages and the simple regression in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0) were used to analyze and treat the data collected. The results obtained from the study showed that: trust, communication and customer care have significant positive effects on customer retention in MTN Nigeria Plc, Calabar. Taking the findings of this study into consideration, the following recommendations were made: MTN Nigeria Plc should strive hard to build, and maintain trust with its customers in order to provide confidence in their services; MTN Nigeria Plc should establish and maintain functional and easily accessible communication lines in order to effectively communicate with customers and elicit their feedback for improved service delivery; and the company should recruit, train and retain polite customer service personnel and motivate them adequately to provide high quality customer care service to its customers.
