What type of customers might be going unnoticed?
November 7, 2007Do the employees at your company view customer service as a department or a company culture? Do the employees that have the least amount of contact with customers get miffed by all the attention your customer service department gets?
A ticked off IT guy once told me, “Hey, our customers would not be customers for long if my department wasn’t working hard on the computer systems that run everything, but do we get credit? Are we highlighted throughout the company? No. The only ones who get any good attention are the customer service people. We all have to hear about their successes and how they make our company what it is today. I’d like to see them try to use their smiles and attention without my department running 24/7 in the background. There wouldn’t be a business without us.”
Ouch! Sounds like his company has not created a customer service culture. This IT guy, just like all the other employees at his company, are “internal” customers. Your internal customers are made up of all the people that are impacted by the work you do. Let’s use the example of the administrative assistant. While her external customers are the people that call in to the business, some of her internal customers would be the people whose calls she screens or the accounts receivables people for whom she sorts incoming checks.
Are some of your internal customers going unnoticed? They need to benefit from the same effort that is used to make customers fall in love with your company.
While it’s vital to share the successes of your customer service heroes, it’s just as vital to celebrate the internal customer service heroes. Celebrate the successes of each department and the people who show passion and accomplishment in their work. Notice them and SHARE the good news. Don’t keep it a secret.
This guy’s IT department has practically no interaction with customers. HOWEVER, what they do dramatically affects the customer’s experience with the company. Does your company highlight HOW each department affects your customers? Do the various departments in your company feel appreciated or celebrated? Would you treat a customer the way you treat your employees? If not, why not? I’d love to hear from you. Do you have an example of how your company loves up their internal customers?
Please click on the word ‘comment’ below right now and share.
Posted by Marilyn Suttle at www.LoveThemUp.com
It’s important to remember you have to have a good product. Isn’t that rule #1?
You are so correct. You have to have committed employees to make a good product. And you get committed employees when you take good care of them. We see it in all of the companies that deliver the best customer service - remembering to properly care for ALL of your staff members is critical to delivering “love them up” customer service!
How about the receptionist or the first person that answers the phone? That is, if they indeed have a live person to do this. I know with me, it’s the first person that says hello that sets the mood for my call to a company. If they’re friendly off the bat and know what they’re doing – then my experience with customer service has a better chance of a successful outcome when I’m transferred there.