THE un-PRODIGAL SON Great Customer Service starts from within J. N. Halm

The Prodigal Son! I have always found that famous parable very interesting. The lessons one can draw from that short story are a lot. Of particular interest to me this week is the attitude of the son who did not run away from home. I mean the un-Prodigal Son. He stood back and fumed as his brother got all the attention. In the end, he had to stage a sit-out before his father gave him some “small” attention. His attitude reminds me so much of the way a lot of us behave at our various places of work. Just like this gentleman, we occasionally stand back and observe with some resentment as the external customer gets all the attention.

The un-Prodigal son’s stance almost spoilt the welcome party for the runaway son. I have wondered we were not told by the Lord how the story ended. I would want to know if the “good and faithful” son eventually joined the party and what his future relations with is brother was going to be. The importance of having one’s house in order is crucial in many endeavours. In business, it is even more crucial. The need for businesses to ensure that internal customer service is well sorted out before attempts are made at giving external customers any sort of service, is great.

If charity truly begins at home, then customer service begins in-house!

Many times when mention is made of customer service, we mostly tend to think of those entities and individuals who bring us business from outside the organisation. There is always the tendency to marginalise another equally important customer segment-the internal customer. It is common conventional wisdom that internal customer service is very crucial to the delivery of exceptional customer service.  

It goes without saying we all have an idea of who our internal customers are, so I would not bother readers with definitions. For those who are hearing of the concept for the first-I hope I am wrong-the internal customer is anyone who depends on someone else in the organisation to fulfil their duties. Other writers have defined it as a co-worker or another department that depends on another individual or department to function properly. I have read some other writers who indicate that even our suppliers are part of the internal customer chain.

Internal customer service therefore is the service we provide fellow employees and other departments within our own organisations, as well as our suppliers and any other entity with whom we work to get our jobs done. It is the creation of an internal atmosphere within an organisation in which all departments and individuals work together cooperatively to ensure that the vision and mission of the organisation is achieved.

Communication and the Internal Customer

Just as with many dealings involving human beings, communication is a key success factor in dealing with internal customers. A business where the standard of communication is equal for both external customers and employees is on its way to ensuring the delivery of great customer service. Internal customer service flourishes in high communication environments.

We could say that if the departments and units are the engine parts of a car, then communication is the fluid that aids in lubricating the various parts. If the organisation were a living being, then the departments and units will be the various organs and organ systems, whereas communication will be the blood that keeps the body operating at optimum. Just as a body will go anaemic when there shortage of blood, a lack of quality communication within the organisation is sure to affect the delivery of internal customer service, which ultimately will affect the delivery of great external customer service.

How management communicates with unit leaders, how heads of units and departmental leaders communicate with their subordinate staff and how staff communicate among themselves is crucial to the delivery exceptional customer care always to the external customer.  In other words, we are all involved in creating good internal customer service. No one is left out.

FROM THE TOP

In communicating information to staff, management must take a look at the following factors.

Accuracy: When employees are fed a pack of lies, it is the external customers that suffer.

Consistency: Management must be seen to be in regular dialogue with staff. In much the same way that external customers complain when they do not hear from us, so would staff complain if they do not hear from the top. A lack of regularity in communicating with those down also creates an atmosphere where the peddling of falsehood becomes the order of the day.

Quantity: I believe it is the duty of management in communicating with customers to know what to say and when to say it. How much information is too much is an issue that Management faces on a regular basis. When employees find out that the information coming from the top is not all there is to know, there is the possibility that some issues might arise. In the end it is the “other” customer that suffers.

Roles

Another role of management is in clearly defining roles and responsibilities for staff. A clear delineation of the various roles curtails the tendency for people to fight over territories.

ON THE GROUND

Staff also have some roles to play in this venture.

On the Road to Great Internal Customer Service

1. Paradigm Shift

Employees must first and foremost come to the realisation that the individual next in line is as important to the success of the organisation as the external customer. Until individuals within the company begin to realise the importance of working hand-in-hand with their colleagues, internal customer service will just remain a popular catchphrase. There is the need for people to be open-minded enough in order to embrace the need for this new way of looking at things. If it is an organisation that had taken years to develop a certain anti-internal customer care culture, it will take some time to get perspectives to change. Tactics that will be adopted must be necessarily consistent. Regular staff meetings and training programmes must emphasise the need for the paradigm shift.

1. Say Please

Another way individuals can offer great internal customer service is in asking for assistance in a polite manner. If in dealing with a cherished customer, you would be polite enough to use the magic word- “Please”, what stops you from doing the same when it comes to a colleague? I remember one of my first managers in the banking industry who did not find any difficulty in using the magic word. It was great working with him. Even though, it was your responsibility to do what he was asking you to, you did it with a new verve just because of the “magic word.”

1. Thank You

It helps never to forget to appreciate a colleague for some assistance the one offered to you. We tend to undervalue the worth of a simple “Thank You!” Just as you have to thank a customer who brings you business, you must also learn to thank your colleague when they help you out, regardless of whether it is their responsibility to do so or not.

1. Exceed expectations

There is customer service, and there is exceptional customer service. We know for a fact that when our expectations are met and even exceeded we tend to feel very happy. This is the same way colleagues feel about themselves when expectations are managed well. Internal customer expectation management is paramount to providing great internal customer service. Let’s say you happen to be a secretary who has been given some work to type out. If it is expected that you will be finished with the work by the end of the day, can you imagine how your boss will feel when you turn out the work in a matter of hours? He or she will be elated. How about going the extra mile for a colleague who is not feeling too well?

1. Positive Criticism

If you have to criticise a colleague, it is important to do so with the one’s feelings at heart. Positive criticism done in a polite and respectful way will go a long way in fostering fellow feeling among colleagues. Much of the frustrations that staff display could be traced to some criticism that was not done well. In much the same way, when you are on the receiving end of criticism, take it in good faith.

1. Personality Clashes

Whereas a customer has the freedom to change service providers if he or she is not pleased with the service being provided; the same cannot be said of the internal customer. If you have opposing personalities with a colleague, you are in a very tight corner. This is one of the stress-inducing factors in internal customer service. Unless you have the “power” to effect any change in-house, you have no choice but to learn to “love the one you’re with.” Another option is to go to a superior and ask for a transfer somewhere else, where you might not come into constant contact with the one. If that option does not work, however you can always RESIGN!

1. Apologies Accepted

Rendering apologies, when they are in order, helps a lot in bringing colleagues together.

1. All Round

Even without management’s prompting, it is advisable to get to know at least what goes on in other departments. If you walk a mile in a colleague’s moccasins, you will better understand some of the things they do. Such an experience would inform your expectations when you are dealing with the one. Also getting to know what goes in another person’s work schedule or unit means you can better understand them when they have issues. Lastly, getting to know a little more about what goes on across the floor will put you in the position where you can be of help to your colleague when she or she needs your help.

In closing…

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would state that the importance of the internal customer cannot be overlooked. Businesses that mean to win and retain the hearts of their customers must ensure that they have first won the hearts of those in-house. Failure to do so will result in behaviours not so far from that of the un-Prodigal Son!