This study investigates relationship marketing by estate agencies in the residential property
market of South Africa. In determining the residential estate agency's knowledge of relation ship
marketing, an extensive literature study was undertaken on the marketing environment and
broader market, marketing concept, market segmentation and target marketing, the marketing
mix and expansion thereof, as well as customer service and internal marketing.
An empirical study was conducted to determine the residential estate agency's present
knowledge and practices of the basic components of relationship marketing. In the study a
structured questionnaire was mailed to all residential estate agencies which are members of the
Estate Agency Affairs Board. The most significant findings are that: the majority of
respondents do not have mission statements and do not know what a mission statement is; they set
marketing objectives which are communicated to the agents; when appointing new agents they
consider the agent's service orientation and ability to work with clients, but qualifications and
previous experience are not viewed as important; they train estate agents themselves and emphasise
after-sales contact and building of long-term relationships, but do not stress customer behaviour influences; a large percentage do not conduct competitor analyses and
view marketing research as unimportant, but are of the opinion that they have superior market
knowledge and offer the best service quality; they regard the principles of the marketing
concept as important; they engage in a large number of after-sales services, although few
realise that contact after occupation is important; they regard the buyer's financial means as
important and engage in activities to ensure customer service, but do not have formalised
feedback systems to test customer satisfaction; they engage in internal marketing activities,
strive to create a positive corporate culture and try to retain good agents.
In conclusion it can be said that there is evidence that the principles of relationship marketing
are followed by residential estate agencies in South Africa. There are, however, concerns about the
long-term commitment of estate agencies towards their clients because of the lack of
feedback systems and the lack of in-depth knowledge of the market. / Business Management / D. Comm (Business Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/1054 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Rudansky-Kloppers, Sharon |
| Contributors | Ghyoot, V. G. (Valmond George), 1951-, Strydom, J. W. (Johan Wilhelm), 1952- |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvii,429 leaves) |
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