Internal Marketing and Customer Orientation within Small Insurance Brokers in the UK

In order for service companies to have satisfied customers, they need satisfied employees (George, 1977). Internal marketing aims to encourage employees to be customer oriented which in turn should lead to delivering better service quality and satisfied customers. Research on internal marketing has however been confined to medium and large firms (Barnes and Morries, 2000). This research aims to examine internal marketing within small firms, in particular small insurance brokers. Small insurance brokers are currently an important source of income (ABI, 2005) (http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/Residents/Research_Information/Data_sets/A/ABI_2005.asp) and employment (CII, 2007) in the UK. However, they are encountering challenging times in terms of increasing demand for high level of customer service, increased competition from large brokers and the need to adhere to new requirements imposed on them by the FSA (Financial Services Authority) (Blackham and Blackham, 2000; Cornell, 2000; Tonkin, 2000; Cliff, 2005). Consequently, small brokers are struggling to survive and their numbers are declining (Faulkner, and Gray 2005; Cornell, 2005). This paper explores the understanding and use of internal marketing in small insurance brokers and its role in developing customer orientation.