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Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers

Things used to be easy for companies – the only thing they needed for success was an innovative product with good quality.

Nowadays, they need to do far more than that.

They need to impress their employees before they can satisfy their customers.

How can they do that?

Read our summary of “Light Their Fire” and find out some of the internal marketing techniques you can use to create a corporate culture which your employees will enjoy.

Who Should Read “Light Their Fire”? and Why?

“Light Their Fire” is a manual which will teach you how to motivate your employees, so they care about your company and offer your product and their best services to your customers.

The authors Susan M. Drake, Michelle J. Gulman and Sara M. Roberts argue that internal marketing is essential in each company since you need to have satisfied employees if you want to have satisfied clients.

We recommend it to all managers, executives and business owners who are looking for different approaches to motivating their employees and increasing the satisfaction levels of their clients.

About Susan M. Drake, Michelle J. Gulman and Sara M. Roberts

Susan M. Drake is an author and the founder and president of Spellbinders, Inc, change management and internal marketing consultancy.

Michelle J. Gulman is a consultant who specializes in internal marketing and change management.

Sara M. Roberts is the founder of Roberts Golden, a consultancy which specializes in internal marketing and change management as well.

“Light Their Fire Summary”

Once upon a time, having a good product that would satisfy your customers’ desires was enough to get you a spot at the top.

But, things have changed.

For your business to succeed you no longer have to impress just your customers, but you need to put in the effort to impress your employees as well.

In fact, if you fail to do so, your business goes nowhere.

The logic behind this is simple: your employees are the middlemen between you and your customers. They know the business the best, and thus they are responsible for making a positive impact on your clients.

When your workers are motivated, they will perform better. Your productivity will increase, and so will the customer satisfaction levels.

So, how can you get your employees excited?

Easy. Focus on the four E’s: “energizing, enabling and empowering your team members, and ensuring that they achieve objectives and are recognized and rewarded for their accomplishments.”

You can achieve this by using two approaches:

• • You can make it a part of a conscious process of communication that is the bases for healthy corporate culture.

• You can go about it as a goal-oriented program with specific steps and actions.

In other words, you need to create an environment where your employees will feel valued and inspired.

That is why when companies face problems linked to productivity, they usually talk about changing the corporate culture as a solution.

But what exactly do they mean by “corporate culture”?

The corporate culture is a blend of your business’s history, values, leadership, and approach.

This blend determines whether your employees will feel pleasant and motivated, and thus help your company achieve its objectives or whether they will only care about their paychecks and avoid taking any responsibility when you business sails on turbulent waters.

To make your employees care about the product you are offering, consider internal marketing.

Internal marketing is a bridge between the employees and management, by giving your workers direction and thus helping to build a clear image and brand.

Your goal, regarding the corporate culture, is to create an environment that produces “E Employees.” E Employees are those workers who provide excellent service, take risks, go the extra mile to help customers, suggest new ways to improve the service, and are trustworthy and loyal.

As you can guess, such employees are rare to find, but they do exist, especially in empowering corporate cultures.

If you succeed to empower and motivate your customers enough, so they think of themselves as business owners, or in other words, to really care about the company and not just about their jobs – you will have delighted customers, we promise you that.

Key Lessons from “Light Their Fire”

1.      Hang onto Good People
2.      Long-Term Benefits of Internal Branding Campaigns
3.      Train Your Employees

Hang onto Good People

It is vital that you reduce employee turnover as much as you can. To do that, consider why people leave in the first place.

Studies show that most employees leave because of limited opportunities for growth, a feeling that their contribution is not significant and a lack of appreciation for the work they put in.

So, make it your mission to satisfy your employees first. When your company is strong and looks good internally, the image that customers get will be even better.

Long-Term Benefits of Internal Branding Campaigns

• • Heighten brand awareness and make your message more consistent.

• • Preserve your company’s culture and traditions.

• • Improve employees’ ability for coping with change and crises.

• Build a good reputation that attracts skilled employees.

Train Your Employees

To increase the employees’ satisfaction levels, even more, invest in them. If people know your company for providing good training, even more, talented people will feel attracted to your firm.

Provide different training depending on your employees’ ages and backgrounds. You can try training in many various forms or coaching which has a more personal approach.

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“Light Their Fire” Quotes

Our Critical Review

“Light Their Fire” is an easy to read guideline, which will teach you how to empower and motivate your people, build a productive corporate culture and fuel loyalty.

The book is full of understandable principles and useful examples, although some of its parts could have used more detail.

Emir Zecovic

Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.