Everyone in your organization has a customer

Everyone in an organization should have a customer. The direct recipient of each person’s products or services across the whole organization to the final customer becomes that customer. The final customer may be obscured by organizational roles, as many will never interact with them. That doesn’t mean people in those roles do not have customers; they do. Internal customers are also essential and equally important for those who never interact with a final customer. 

What would it mean if you take a poll of non-final customer-facing employees and learn that they feel they do not have direct customers? It may mean that a culture or micro-culture has developed that allows non-final customer-facing team members to absolve themselves from the need to delight customers (Vavra and Keiningham, 2001, Customer Delight Principle). Not having the drive to “delight” customers, because of the perception that some roles do not have customers, may stifle innovation, lessen quality, dampen service execution, or cause stress. That’s because the focus is primarily on merely meeting expectations of internal products and/or services, rather than exceeding expectations and creating delight.

So, what to do? 

• Help all team members clearly define and identify who their customer is and how that shapes the final customer’s experience. 
• Break down micro-cultures in favor of the desired culture for the whole organization. 
• Align the leadership styles to support the mission of the organization.
• Reinforce positive behaviors by recognizing and rewarding for exceeding all customer expectations.

Recognizing that everyone has a customer is an opportunity to improve performance and reduce stress while building a positive and collaborative work experience for all.

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