Abstract:
Businesses must retain their clients to remain profitable. The academic field of marketing
management considers customer relationship management (CRM) as most appropriate to achieve
this, while communication management focuses instead on public relations (PR). The purpose of
this research was to analyse theories in these two disciplines and derive an integrated theoretical
framework of CRM and PR client retention. The framework was then tested through in-depth
interviews with short-term insurance clients and short-term insurance providers (brokers and direct
insurers) in South Africa to gain perspectives from both sides. The importance of some fundamental
elements found in literature were affirmed, two elements’ importance were questioned and it was
established that three inconsistencies existed between what providers regard as essential to retain
clients and what clients regard necessary for them to stay in a relationship with an insurance
provider. This may explain the many unsuccessful client retention efforts of South African brokers
and direct insurers. Six new CRM and/or PR elements, not found in literature, are presented in the
article for exploration in future research. In order to assist client retention in the very competitive
short-term insurance industry, results were applied to the core tenets of Niemann’s (2005) SA
model for the implementation of strategic integrated communication (IC). Finally, the authors
present an integrated approach to client retention strategies in the South African short-term
insurance industry, incorporating both marketing and communication theories.
