How to Satisfy Internal and External Customers

There are two kinds of customers that every business organization must be able to satisfy in order not just to benefit financially, but also ensure that they progress and grow.  The first type of customers is the external customers.  This is the most commonly known type of customers.  External customers are those individuals and organizations outside the company that directly or indirectly avails the products and services provided by the said company.  The second type of customers is the internal customers.  As the term implies, internal customers are those that are found within the business organization.  Internal customers generally refer to the workforce employed in a particular organization that facilitates external customers to ensure that their needs are met.

If there is one common thing between these two types of customers is that they both have their own set of needs that they expect the company meets.  The ability, or lack thereof, of the company to meet these needs is one of the major factors that could determine the success or failure of a particular business.  That being the case, it is extremely important for every company to make sure that they are able to meet the needs of these customers. 

Here are just some ways on how a company may be able to satisfy both internal and external customers.

Treat Them the Same

One of the major pitfalls of many companies is that while they exert so much effort in meeting the needs of external customers, they fail to act in the same manner towards their internal customers.  In many recent studies conducted, it has been determined that the level of satisfaction felt by internal customers have a direct effect on the level of satisfaction experienced by external customers.  This being the case, it is important that management should make sure that they strive to meet the needs of their internal customers in the same manner as they strive to meet the needs of their external customers to improve the level of customer satisfaction received from the company.

Improvement in Communication Skills of Management

Another way companies would be able to satisfy both internal and external customers is to improve the communication skills of members of management.  While training provided by companies to newly hired customer service representatives equip them with such skills in order to meet the needs of external customers, members of management must also hone such skills in order to be able to, in turn, meet the needs of the company’s internal customers to ensure that the level of performance exhibited by the internal customers do not waver.

Regular Monitoring of Customer Satisfaction

Quite often than not, one of the reasons why many companies struggle in providing customer satisfaction to both internal and external customers is that there is no set regular monitoring procedures utilized by the company.  In the event that there are already set monitoring procedures, the frequency that this is done is unable to catch minor issues that have the potential in becoming a major concern for the company.  This being the case, it is imperative to ensure that such monitoring procedures must be done in a frequency whereby it is able to catch potential problems, issues and concerns before this becomes full-blown.