Internal & External Customers
An organization must have employees that are both loyal and talented and dedicated to offering excellent customer service. The relationship between a company and its customers is a relationship divided into two sections. First, internal and secondly, external.
We often take about those external customers. Customers that buy the product and or service and overtime may become unpaid billboards. However, internal customers are as important in the well-being of the organization. An internal customer can be anyone in the organization; this includes anyone from the Board of Directors, managers, supervisors, and team members. Just as the external customer will tout about the product and or service, the internal customer will tout about the culture, processes, and what lies behind the curtain.
As leaders, we should focus on providing the best service possible and even foster an environment of creativity and innovation. However, while we focus on providing the best service possible to our external customers, we cannot afford to neglect our internal customers. As we foster better relationships with the internal customer, they will become an asset like no other.
Fostering Relationships
Recently I spoke with a person who had a bad experience with a credit card company. Initially, she was drawn to this company by the services they provided and by the recommendations received by her friends. After having the credit card for some time, she found herself looking for employment. She wondered if the customer service is so good, what would it be like to work for them. In her search, she found out that a friend of a friend worked with the company, and they were eager to share.
This person mentioned how management rarely engages with those beneath them in the hierarchy and that little to no training is ever done, while the bar is relatively high on what customer service should be. They went on and on about all of the negative experiences they had as an employee (internal customer). Too much of her dismay, one day, she called in to receive service on her credit card, and the person on the other line was not a delight, and this further fueled all of the stories she had heard.
In our conversation, I asked her what did she end up doing, and she stated she closed out her account, cut all ties with the, warns her friends about how bad the company is, and looked for employment elsewhere.
Final Words
It seems like the company lost an external customer because of the neglected relationship with the internal ones. Its important to focus on the growth of the organization, both internal and external. Neglecting on over the other will lead an organization to its dismay.
