Service Management and Marketing: Managing the Service Profit Logic, 4th Edition

CHAPTER 14PEOPLE MANAGEMENT: INTERNAL MARKETING AS A PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT

“Without good and well-functioning internal relationships, external customer relationships will not develop successfully. Engaging and motivating employees – on all levels – is a true test of managing an organization.”

INTRODUCTION

In service businesses in particular the role of employees is paramount for success. In spite of the growing importance of technology, customer-centric and service-minded employees are needed for high-quality service experiences. Therefore, successful people management is a prerequisite for successful customer management. This chapter will discuss a phenomenon that was originally highlighted by the research into service marketing; that is, internal marketing.¹ Throughout this book, the issue of internal marketing has emerged in several contexts. The term was coined as an umbrella concept for a variety of internal activities and processes that are not new but, focused upon as here, offer a new approach to developing a service orientation and an interest in customers and marketing among an organization’s personnel. Internal marketing starts from the concept that employees are a first, internal market for the organization. If a service perspective, goods, services, planned marketing communication, new technologies and operational systems cannot be marketed to this internal target group, marketing to ultimate, external customers cannot be expected to be successful ...