ABSTRACT
As healthcare provision is big business, so marketing has become an important part of contemporary healthcare services and is one of many traditional business disciplines of which allied health professions and other healthcare professionals are expected to have a sound practical working knowledge. For commercial businesses it is straightforward – customers are the people who purchase their goods and services. A customer is generally regarded as the buyer or purchaser of the product or service, whereas the consumer is the person who uses or consumes the product. Again at the straightforward commercial level, the customers' – or consumers' – requirements will be the products on offer from the organisation. The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. The health service is in exactly the same position as any commercial business in having to look at ways to overcome the competition to meet its profit or target.
