An internal customer in an organization is an employee who “you count on or rely upon to complete a task or a function or to provide you with information so that you can get your job done…and anyone who counts on you to complete a task or function or to provide them with information so that they can get their job done.”
Partnerships are the best way to fulfill the needs of internal customers must be done using the following attributes:
- Politeness and friendliness are the prime ways to fulfill the needs of all internal customers and can be easily accomplished by having a polite and courteous approach.
- An open style of management along with clearly set goals in addition to consideration and sympathy towards the problems of the customer along with regular training programs will ensure that there is harmony which can be assessed by regular feedback.
- Fair and equal treatment of all employees, including equal opportunities for all employees, is absolutely essential in meeting the needs of the internal customers as this need is generally ranked high on the list of most internal.
- Granting the internal customers power or control and recognizing and rewarding their achievements will facilitate a strong impact on the outcome giving them a sense of responsibility.
The staff of Vodafone enjoys the benefits of not only partying and get-togethers including family barbecues but also entertaining training sessions and meetings with internationally acclaimed teams such as the Ferrari team at the Melbourne Grand Prix. These are among the activities organized by the company for the purpose of creating unique experiences specially crafted by keeping the internal customers in focus, which will, in turn, be profoundly advertised even to the common public. In this way, the brand value, as well as the respect of the company, is greatly enhanced which directly results from the goodwill shooting from the internal customers because of the power directed by the company towards the internal company staff.
In a recent and groundbreaking path for establishing an internal partnership to inspire its staff, Vodafone established a relationship with the Tasmanian Cricket Association for the sake of their people in Tasmania in order to bring them to “life”. In doing so, the company not only took into perspective the external customer base, rather it focused on the “whole integrated piece” for the people in its entirety, by putting an equal emphasis on the internal staff of the company as well, which would in the process allow them to take on the responsibility and the leadership of the company as their own and thereby enable them to develop a sense of ownership towards the company, serving not only as a morale booster for the internal customers of the company but also strengthening the internal brand value of the company.
These innovative steps taken by way of seminars and other activities, inculcate passion and sentiment for the brand that they are working for and gives the company the great power and potential to transfer this outside the company as well, straight to the external customer. If the employees or the internal customers are able to understand and feel for the brand, only then will they be able to appropriately pass it further down.