Internal marketing - A tool to harness employees’ power in service organizations

Customer service is one of the most crucial aspects of an organization’s competitive advantage and it is the critical element which internal marketing (IM) influences, whatever business or industry the organization operates. Internal marketing is based on the notion of communicating with internal markets and treating employees like customers. Implementing an internal marketing plan helps in educating, stimulating, guiding and leading workforce to higher levels of performance and gratification. The service employee often represents the organization in the eyes of the customer. Due to this, the role of employee is both complex and multi-dimensional. The internal customer concept is a promising area of study in the marketing and organizational behaviour literature. This study contributes to the understanding of what IM is and focuses on importance of employees in service encounters. Further, the paper focuses on rationale for adoption of this concept within services organizations in India