What does it mean to know our customers inside/out?

Employees are customers, too. No “inside” employee wants to feel like an outsider when they visit another department. No coworker with a need deserves to feel deserted. The desire to feel respect, concern, and a sense of urgency for internal needs among our coworkers is universal. After all, we’re human. Knowing your customers inside as well as outside is simply this: great Internal Customer Service.

Here’s the ‘inside/out’ scoop, in its simplest form: You work hard every day (in whatever role that is) to Create Raving Fans out of our customers. Have you applied those same efforts to your coworkers?

Wait, there’s more.

Internal customer service improves morale, productivity, employee retention, external customer service and, ultimately, profitability. “Paying it Forward” with our own people pays it forward to customers.  Consider this quote:

"There's a remarkably close and consistent link between how internal customers are treated and how external customers perceive the quality of your organization's services. A commitment to serve internal customers invariably shows itself to external customers. It's almost impossible to provide good external service if your organization is not providing good internal service." – Benjamin Schneider, University of Maryland

What’s ‘Internal Customer Service?

It’s the act of serving and responding to internal stakeholders. It’s applying the same customer-first mission to the people who share your four walls from 8-5. It’s an integral piece to the employee experience. Think you’re not customer-facing? Think again.

What does Internal Customer Service Look Like?

There are plenty of examples here at Datamax. It’s Aaron Sauer getting a printer fixed for Human Resources’ Terri Hackmayer so she could complete a huge-volume job. It’s Area Sales Manager Ken Allison texting and emailing his team well after hours to show his unwavering support. It’s a celebratory outing after hours on closing Friday after a successful period. Read more here.

What’s the Takeaway, here?

We hope you’ll read through The Rave Review and further embrace the idea of knowing our customers inside/out. But we’ll leave you with this excerpt from a recent Forbes Magazine article.

"This, conceptually, is as simple as it sounds, but ultimately it’s a change of mindset that has surprising power – cultural transformational power, even–once accomplished. It’s when you start thinking about “my customers in Department X” and stop thinking, perhaps with a visible chip on your shoulder, about “those folks in Department X.” If you can get this into your language, and your mindset, a lot changes. Internal requests, whether simple requests for a sign-off on a document or for heavy lifting (literally or otherwise) will start seeming less like drudgery and more like opportunities to serve–and you’ll find ways to prioritize that internal work and handle it with grace."