When will business owners understand that the slightest break in Internal Marketing ultimately results in lost customers?
My friend Marty and his son Carson recently visited a national hardware store in town. They needed some rock salt and stopped at the store that was in the path of that day's errands. A happy coincidence for the store. That they will likely not make that choice again, not so happy for the store.
After purchasing the rock salt the register, Marty and Carson were directed to the opposite end of the store to retrieve their purchase. As everyone knows, these stores are huge - and walking from one end to the other is no jaunty stroll. But the two were not in a hurry and willingly made the journey.
Upon arrival, they were told the store was actually out of rock salt. Internal Marketing Breakdown #1: non-communication between departments.
Marty was given the option of a refund, to which he agreed, He was then directed back to the other end of the store to process this refund. Internal Marketing Breakdown #2: understanding/executing ideal customer service.
It's a story I've heard over and over again. Business owners are complaining that sales are down, yet employees have no understanding of, or worse yet no buy in to, delivering the ideal brand experience to the customer. And 99% of the time it will be the employee, not the business owner, who solely provides the customer experience.
The number one best investment a company can make to increase revenue is Internal marketing. Companies who aren't doing it are losing money each and every day. When will you start investing in yourself to ensure that customers continue to do business with you?
