INM MAGAZINE VOLUME 8 | FEBRUARY 2016
#HR
improving customer satisfaction through improved
external customer's attitude towards the firm is
customer services. Internal marketing is inward facing
formed with the entire experience with the company
and it is in a way the process of developing the
and not just the product. If the employees are not
foundations of the marketing concept. The human
aware about all the features, qualities and benefits of
resources department plays an important role in the
Internal Marketing
process of internal marketing as their target audience
and market with regards all their activities are their
firms existing employees. They must ensure that
there is proper communication between the
company and its employees, effective coordination
and integration schemes within the organization and
information regarding the company's goals are
properly disseminated and understood. Various
training and development programs for employees
must be designed to not just deal with customer
grievances, but also having a great deal of knowledge
about the product so as to facilitate the selling
process. They must also ensure that the employees
understand the company's vision, goals and strategy
in a similar manner as external customers, and they
must be trained in order to project the vision and
goals of the company while selling. Another key
component is creating a culture and working
environment within the firm similar to the image the
product in particular and the firm in general wants to
project. For example, Apple prides itself on an
innovation and hence in order to project its image in
that manner it not only looks to recruit innovative
employees, but also looks to create a culture that
creates an environment which fosters innovation and
out of the box thinking. A lot of focus is given to the
attitudes of external customers as firms try to appeal
to the customer's attitude while promoting any
product, and concepts like attitude branding have
also emerged. In the same manner, attitude of its
the product, selling them to the external customers
would be an even bigger great challenge. Also, not
just awareness, but they must also be convinced and
have a positive perception of the product, as if they
themselves are convinced of the benefits a product
provides, they would be in a better position to
convince the external customers to buy the product.
Thus, efforts like promotional campaigns within the
firm using the company notice board, intranet,
banners, charts, posters, and informal meetings with
employees explaining the product, etc. would help in
a big way to grab the employee attention and ensure
high levels of employee engagement. This could be a
major source of word of mouth communication as
employees would then refer the product to their
friends, relatives thereby further promoting the
product.
internal customers ]\