Customers are not just people who pay for the goods & services you offer, they also include those people whom you work with every day.
An internal Customer is any member of an Organization who relies on assistance from another individual/unit within the same Organization to accomplish his/her job duties, for example; a personnel who needs the assistance of the HR department to get a vacation, becomes an internal Customer to the HR department.
It’s important remember that while external & internal Customers fulfill different roles, both are equally crucial to the success of any Organization.
Internal Customer Service is the service rendered to colleagues and other departments within an organization, as well as vendors and anyone else employees interact with to get their job done.
How you & every member of your organization responds to such internal requests is reflective of how your (external) Customers’ issues are/will be handled.
Any organization that seeks to provide world class Customer Service, will need to start from creating a solid internal Customer Service culture amongst its employees.
I’ve found out that most times business owners are oblivious to the fact that great internal Customer service can impact positively or negatively on their profit margin.
How is that possible? You ask, let’s look at the following –
Poor Internal Customer Service Leads to a Poor Service Quality
An example, a business outlet needs the help of IT in troubleshooting a network link that prevents them from concluding Customer transactions seamlessly. if they fail to respond speedily, the outlet will keep Customers waiting. This will ultimately lead to a negative Customer Experience. If the issue lingers for a long time, Customer turnout at the outlet will decline.
Increased Employee and Customer Satisfaction
Customers (internal or external) are satisfied & happy whenever their needs/expectations are met. Satisfied employees are more excited to come to work & will be more likely to go the extra mile for the external Customers. The delighted Customer will be willing to pay more for his perceived value of the great service being offered by the Organisation.
Increased Employee Satisfaction leads to –
- A higher employee retention rate, as satisfied employees are less likely to leave an organization, this saves the cost of hiring and training new employees.
- Increased productivity as the processes become more streamlined and cohesive & the various departments work in synergy.
That’s how far Internal Customer Service can take an Organization.
Every organization should improve employee awareness & lay emphasis on the importance of great internal Customer Service culture via e-mail newsletters, training and other appropriate mediums.
Ways to Render Great Internal Customer Service
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Acknowledging receipt of e-mails:
Though not enough importance is attached to this action, it can go a long way in assuring the sender & saves time + cost that’s used to make confirmatory calls.
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Exceeding your internal Customers’ expectations:
If the data entry department has asked you send them a certain report by 4pm (& it takes you less than an hour to get it done), send it by 1 or 2pm, that way they can work with the data as soon as they can.
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Responding to issues as soon as they come:
Try responding to any issues or requests that you receive, as soon as you can, or at least acknowledge the request, & let the sender know when you’d respond
Organizations have a tendency to focus on the relationship with external Customers, as they are the ones who purchase most of the products and services. However improving internal Customer relations leads to increased productivity, better Customer perception & satisfaction, which inevitably increases profitability
