Going Internal: The Convergence of the Internal Customer, Internal Marketing and Customer Experience

That employees are internal customers is nothing new. It is a fact that businesses have accepted for decades now. Tomes have been written about the concept.  Millions of hours of lectures have been spent on it. Considerable resources have been devoted to researching it. These make the idea of the internal customer a very important one in the world of business.

Customers have to be marketed to. That is a fact of business. Therefore, it stands to reason, that if there are internal customers, then there will be internal marketing. But what products are going to be marketed to meet the needs and desires of these internal customers? If employees are “customers”, what is the organisation “marketing” to these “customers”?

According to the concept, the “products” that internal marketing puts in front of internal customers are the objectives of the organisation and the ways internal customers contribute to these objectives. The jobs that employees do to satisfy external customers are what bring employees a sense of fulfilment. Therefore, internal marketing is not selling any products to employees but making the jobs they do more enjoyable. Internal marketing is an attempt to convince employees that the organisation is set up to do positive things in the lives of individuals and that the jobs that these employees do matter.

The vision of the organisation is therefore vital in the internal marketing efforts of any organisation. Employees must necessarily feel that they are contributing something positive to society. Many scholars define internal marketing as the promotion of a business’s objectives, products and services to employees within the organisation.

Beyond the vision of the organisation, internal marketing is also about how the right resources are made available to employees to ensure that they perform at their very best on the job. These resources are more than just the tools that are made available to employees but even the kind of training and capacity building that is made available to these internal customers to put them in the right place to give off their very best.

Another aspect of internal marketing is the rewards systems that are available in the organisation. Employees must feel that their efforts are appreciated by the organisation. It is important to note that these rewards do not always have to be monetary. Sometimes, the best rewards do not involve any financial considerations at all.

Studies after studies have proven that internal marketing creates value for employees and this, in turn, leads to employees doing good things for the organisation. For example, an employee who feels valued by the organisation will go out of her way to ensure that the organisation saves money. Internal marketing also causes employees to do positive things for external customers. In other words, effective internal marketing has both positive direct and indirect effects on the organisation and also on the experience of customers. The good things that employees do which benefit the organisation and its customers are what experts refer to as organizational citizenship behaviour.

Organisations that have effective internal marketing strategies are those that will eventually endear themselves to customers. These are the businesses that eventually become market leaders. These businesses know that a happy employee makes a happy customer. To say it another way, a happy internal customer makes for a happy external customer.

A study in 2023 added to the importance of internal marketing by proving that it influences the effectiveness of the organisation. That is to say, a business performs better when it has better internal marketing systems. That particular study also found that the internal marketing climate affects the satisfaction levels of customers. The study was titled “The Effects of Internal Marketing Climate on Hotel Effectiveness and Competitive Excellence” and was published in the November 2023 edition of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly journal.

One of the standout findings of this study was that organizational citizenship behaviour was the main reason why internal marketing climate affected the effectiveness and competitive excellence of an organisation or even a unit within that organisation. When employees buy into what the organisation is doing, they naturally give off their very best.

It is important to remember that it is possible that different units within the same organisation can have two different internal marketing climates and this would affect the effectiveness of these departments. In other words, if there is a department or a unit within the organisation that is not performing well, it is entirely possible that those within that unit or department might not have been effectively marketed to. As stated earlier, the concept of internal marketing argues that if employees are truly sold on and have truly bought into the vision, mission and objectives of the organisation, then these employees would put in their very best on the job.

The importance of internal marketing to the performance of every unit within any organisation cannot be overstated. However, if that department or unit happens to interact with customers regularly, then the importance of internal marketing to the fortunes of the organisation is ratcheted up even more. Every customer-facing department or unit must be filled with employees who live and breathe that organisation’s vision, mission and objectives.

Of all other employees, customer-handling employees must be those who walk the talk. This is why the organisation’s internal marketing efforts must take into consideration employees in the customer-facing departments and units, such as customer service, marketing, sales, etc.

In my experience, some of the most effective internal marketing strategies are not very complicated. Regular staff meetings where the vision and mission of the organisation are hammered on is a very good internal marketing strategy. Staff durbars where staff can speak their minds on things that are bothering them, without fear of suffering for speaking out, is another important internal marketing strategy. When these gatherings are addressed by those who are in leadership positions within the organisation, the effects become more pronounced.

Another very simple strategy is to get managers and supervisors to appreciate their team members regularly. Sometimes, a Thank You Note or even a simple word of appreciation from the boss can do wonders for the morale of employees. The reason why reward systems are so important is because of the phenomenon of Perceived Organisational Support (POS).

By definition, POS is the belief employees have that their employer truly cares about them. It is that feeling that the business is just not using them to make money but is truly interested in the well-being and welfare of its staff. It has been found that POS does wonders for the confidence of employees. It is also one of the reasons why staff displayed many positive organisational citizenship behaviours. A good internal marketing system serves to raise the perception employees have of how well they are supported by the organisation.

In this day and age of advancing communications technology, it helps if the organisation adopts ICT tools to help in its internal marketing efforts. Something as simple and commonplace as a WhatsApp platform can become a great platform to push vital information to members of staff or those within a particular unit or department. A basic intranet facility is another means by which the organisation can engage in engaging in effective marketing.

A newsletter is another tool that can be deployed effectively in internal marketing. By disseminating vital information on the activities of the organisation to all important stakeholders, a newsletter plays a critical role in keeping the goals of the business always in the view of employees. Sometimes, the hustle and bustle of the day’s activities can cause employees to lose the big picture. A well-produced newsletter can be one way of letting staff know the direction the organisation is heading towards. These days, newsletters are far easier to produce, with the many templates that are out there on the Net.

Another way an organisation can engage in effective internal marketing is the posting of important information regarding corporate objectives or achievements around the premises of the said organisation. Silent as they might be, these posters, banners or plaques have a way of reminding internal customers of what the organisation believes is important. Placing an award at a vantage point on the premises—where it would be seen by employees as they go in and out of the organisation—can do wonders for their pride.

As can be seen, these internal marketing strategies, tactics and techniques do not cost an arm and a leg to deploy, but can all be very effective when deployed appropriately. The benefits of these seemingly little things can be enormous for the organisation, especially as it relates to the experience of its customers. The feel-good factor that comes with effective internal marketing can translate into amazing experiences for customers, i.e. external customers. These experiences can become unique selling propositions for the organisation, propositions that can become very difficult to replicate for the competition.

The ongoing discourse should make every business owner, leader, manager, supervisor or just about anybody interested in the growth of the organisation consider making internal marketing an important part of the organisation’s operations. Those benefits would be worth any efforts invested. Sometimes, to do good externally, it pays to start by doing well internally.

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