INTERNAL AND EXTE AL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

To win in business today every department needs to understand how they support other departments. When each department is only conce
ed about their piece of the success, failure will appear somewhere in overall customer satisfaction. Business mistakes internally can cost you dearly exte
ally. Your actions affect others actions internally as well as exte
ally.
Business suffers when customer satisfaction is not taking place internally. What I find when working with companies is that most departments do not understand the concept of an internal customer. Yes, each department affects someone in another department that ends up having an effect on exte
al customers. Who are your internal customers? I always tell business’s that if you cannot please your internal customer, then in some way, it eventually will affect the exte
al customer.
In every business there is a process that involves several departments in providing the finished product, or service offering to a customer. If those processes are not in alignment, the end product or service is not the best that it can be. I have found that in many businesses each department is so focused on their end results that they forget about how what they do, effects other departments too.
When a customer leaves you do you know exactly why? Is it possible that there was a breakdown in your process or the service that you provide due to one small piece of your organization? One breakdown internally can have a tremendous affect exte
ally. Something promised when sold is not delivered properly when provided because of a breakdown in your process. Can it be because one department does not understand how what they do in their process affects others in their process? When your internal functions are out of alignment there will be exte
al consequences. Until each department in your company is in alignment with each other you cannot operate at your best. Performance will always suffer somewhere.
When I am consulting with clients who have these problems, one of the things that I teach them is how to get their internal departments in alignment so that the exte
al customer does not surfer. It is a process of understanding and knowledge that is learned through examples. Participants come away with a clear understanding of their role in customer satisfaction.