Future Performance Training
A customer is a person on the receiving end of our products and services, with whom the organisation has a transaction.
The external customer is central to an organisation’s success, as they are the people who generate the income within the organisation that allow the business to pay their staff and continue to invest in growing and improving the business.
Internal Customers
Companies can only offer a truly professional service to external customers if they also offer a professional service to their internal customers. Everybody serves someone and in turn is served by someone else in the organisation.
Internal customers include all employees who work for the organisation including the:
• Receptionist.
• Operations manager.
• Sales representative.
• Retail assistant.
• Administrator.
• Secretary.
There are a number of benefits for organisations that look after and serve their internal customers well. These include staff who:
• Are better motivated.
• Are well trained and keen to help everybody.
• Are keen to do their job well.
• Are rewarded and recognised for their efforts.
• Aim to achieve customer delight.
• Realise the importance of customer focus.
• Create customer satisfaction.
• Are more effective.
• Generate sales and profits through their actions.
• Deliver promises made.
• Keep customers informed.
• Communicate well.
• Listen.
Drawbacks of not serving internal customers well
Often organisations find it difficult, due to competitive pressures, to do everything they would like to make their staff happy. To look after staff properly organisations should:
• Train staff.
• Communicate to staff.
• Keep a safe and health working environment.
• Aim to keep staff happy in their work.
• Give staff exciting jobs to do.
• Be fair to staff.
• Be considerate of staff needs.
• Pay staff well.
If we do not do a good job for our internal customers, the results could be disastrous and will almost certainly cause the following problems:
• Communication difficulties.
• Frustration with co-workers.
• Non-cooperation between staff or departments.
• Time wasting.
• Ineffective work practices.
• Stress.
• Lack of job satisfaction.
• Poor quality work.
Drawbacks of not serving external customers well
When large or small businesses continually fail to serve their external customers properly there is likely to be serious consequences in the long term. For example, the following things may start to happen.
• An increase in the number of complaints experienced by the organisation.
• A drop in sales.
• A fall in profits.
• Customers will find other places to spend their money, where they feel they are getting good service and good value for money.
• Customers tell others when they are not happy with their experience. This means that they put off would- be customers from going to buy from your business.
Any, or all, of these problems will eventually lead to poor service to the external customer, which eventually leads to reduced profit in the long term.