The effects of internal marketing on customer orientation in Nigerian banking industry

Abstract

The contribution of banking sector to the overall world gross domestic product (gdp) cannot be over emphasised. This explains why banking institutions occupy a very high pedigree in the world’s economy and also why they are highly regulated. Consequently, banks’ employees are considered to be highly skilful and command respect among their peers. However, as important as the roles of employees in a banking institution are, their capabilities and potentiality towards the organizational commitment are often undermined by the management. Many banks therefore neglect the satisfaction of their employees who double as their internal customers. Literatures have however established that internal marketing is a potent business strategy towards the success of an organisation especially banks. Internal marketing is particularly geared towards perceiving the employees of an organization as internal customers thereby contributing meaningfully to their welfare in all ramifications. Besides, one other method to achieve the goal of an organization is through customer orientation which is focused primarily on satisfying the needs and desires of the customers based on their demands and needs by the organization. Therefore, this paper examines the relationship between internal marketing and customer orientation in Nigerian banking industry. The paper employs the library method to collect information and thereby subject this information to analysis by adopting comparative, deductive and inductive methods. The findings of this paper reveal that there are four components of internal marketing as follows: training and development; reward and communication; internal communication and empowerment. Also, the findings of this paper indicate that all the components of internal marketing have effects on consumer orientation. In other words, the paper finds that internal marketing has significant impact on customer orientation. The paper therefore concludes that employees’ job satisfaction is crucial in attracting and maintaining lifelong relationship with customers.