Who are a company's internal customers?
While a company may have many external exchanges, such as customers purchasing a product or service, there often are more opportunities for exchanges within a company or within the various processes of a company.
Such exchanges are internal supplier-customer processes. A process is a planned and repetitive sequence of steps by which a defined product or service is delivered. Processes can be broken into an activity or group of activities that takes an input from a previous work step or internal supplier, adds value to it and provides an output to the next work step or internal customer. Internal customer/supplier processes reflect a partnership, as opposed to a transaction relationship.
It is customary to consider the customer impact of only certain jobs, such as sales, marketing or customer service. However, this may obstruct the goal of delivering maximum value to real customers. Employee satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability are all interconnected. Therefore, whether a company or organization is large or small, providing good customer service begins with the internal environment.
Anyone who plays a role producing or supporting a company’s end product or service is part of the internal process for that organization — from the person answering the phone, supplying office products or fixing the computers to the person cleaning the bathrooms or sorting the mail. Each person plays a role in the never-ending chain of daily activities.
Add Value to Internal Processes
Internal suppliers to internal customers should make conscious efforts to provide good instructions, proper equipment and relevant training.
The concept of internal customers moves across all levels of an organization. For example, a scheduler provides a schedule to a production manager, who instructs an operator, who produces product and sends it to a pallet operator, who sends the pallet to a warehouse operator. Maintenance personnel keep equipment running, sanitation personnel keep the plant clean to produce wholesome product and so forth.
It is important to recognize each transaction has a set of criteria: the production manager needs the schedule on time, the operator needs to know what to make, the pallet operator needs to know where to send the product, the equipment needs to work and product needs to be free of adulteration.
Internal processes or work systems must be identified and defined. A work system is how a company organizes itself to get work done. Formalizing these systems ties the activities to be done to the purpose of producing a product or service and to company goals. Each link has action requirements and expectations that need to be defined.
Survey Internal Customers
Surveys can establish a communication process, serving as a tool for overall improvement. Some questions internal customers should be asked: 1) What is the perception of the company? 2) Are quality efforts worthwhile? or 3) Is the company a good place to work?
Management practices relate to employee satisfaction, which also impacts external customer satisfaction. When employees are satisfied with their treatment and given the correct tools to do their jobs, customers are more likely continue to do business with the company.
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CONTACT:
Jason Young
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
148 FAPC
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-6071
Fax: 405-744-6313
E-Mail: jason.young@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local Governments Cooperating. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, or status as a veteran, and is an equal opportunity employer.
