Internal Marketing

Abstract

Administrators, directors of admissions, and corporate offices of nursing homes must become better marketers to survive sweeping changes in the industry. An essential part of their marketing effort has to be what is termed "internal marketing." Internal marketing consists of an effort by the organization to train and motivate its employees to provide better service. Internal marketing must precede conventional marketing campaigns if the latter are to succeed. Negative staff attitudes will affect quality of care, and negative word of mouth communication by patients and staff to the community will negate the effects of the marketing campaign. A survey by the authors shows that education and advancement of nursing assistants has been neglected. They recommend the internal marketing efforts focus on those nursing assistants.