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Internal Customers Must Be Raving Fans Too

Guest post by: Ian Berry

Article Overview: If I came to your workplace and asked your work mates about your service to them would I hear unreserved raves? Here are 9 ways to ensure I would.

Internal Customers Must Be Raving Fans Too

Recently I had lunch in a Melbourne restaurant that in my mind was famous. The décor was still sensational and the food extraordinary. I will be doing some investigation before I go back however. You see in my eyes staff relationships are not what thy used to be, and as a consequence what was once exceptional service, is now ordinary, meaning for me the whole experience I pay top dollar for, is now not worth it.

Are you and the people you work with, to use the words of Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, “raving fans” of your products and services? More to the point, are you raving fans of the service you provide each other?

The great organisations in my experience are those where you ask people what kind of service they get from work mates and the answers are unreserved raves.

Here are 9 actions / behaviours that in my observation lead to high quality relationships with our work mates, the consequences of which are, service to the buyers of our products and services that is unsurpassed.

1. We are continually asking our internal customers what they need, expect and desire and providing these in ways others want.

1. We say please and thank you a lot. These are still 3 of the most powerful words in the English language.

1. We communicate with one another with genuine enthusiasm.

1. We praise each other publicly for service beyond the norm.

1. We provide constructive criticism to each other in private when we feel performance is not up to its usual high standard.

1. We keep our promises.

1. We are open, honest and trustworthy.

1. We go out of our way to create a sense of family in the workplace where integrity, respect, collaboration and the like are not just words but values we live by.

1. We support and encourage each other as if our lives depend on it. (they do in my opinion)

I have seen a few workplaces where people behave like this. It is no coincidence in my mind that these same organisations are achieving what I call the five-fold bottom line, universal harmony, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, economic prosperity and spiritual validity.

The world needs workplaces living these common sense principles like at no time previously in history.

If I came to your workplace and asked your work mates about your service to them would I hear unreserved raves?

Be the difference you want to see in the world

Ian

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Article Tags: internal customers, raving fans, work mates



Related Forum Posts
a legacy - sounds like your grandfather left a real legacy. It reminds me of Dale Carnegies famous quote, 'people dont care how much you know, until they know how much you care' An interesting side bar is the idea of customer loyalty. I recently worked with a large bank on their new 'loyalty' program. I called it like I saw it, they didnt have loyal customers....they had hostages. If anyone reading wants to learn more about delivering great customer service, they should read "Raving Fans' by Ken Blanchard and "how to win friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie Two of my favourite resources... The third resource I can always count on was my dad. Although he died almost 18 years ago, he raised me and my 5 brothers and sisters with a strong work ethic, a respect for people of all backgrounds and a healthy respect for time. In fact, I am often teased for always being early or at least very punctual and I find it sad that in today's world, we seem to have lost a lot of the basic tenets of common sense and courtesy.
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT - Hi David, To add to your thread, I'd like to recommend Jonathan Tisch's "Chocolates On The Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience". Tisch's book includes content on "Welcoming Customers", "The New Art of Customization", "The Challenges of Customer Diversity" and "Offering Something Extra to Your Customers" to name a few.
Re: a legacy - [quote="TheRainmaker":36ce5c3z]sounds like your grandfather left a real legacy. It reminds me of Dale Carnegies famous quote, 'people dont care how much you know, until they know how much you care' An interesting side bar is the idea of customer loyalty. I recently worked with a large bank on their new 'loyalty' program. I called it like I saw it, they didnt have loyal customers....they had hostages. If anyone reading wants to learn more about delivering great customer service, they should read "Raving Fans' by Ken Blanchard and "how to win friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie Two of my favourite resources... The third resource I can always count on was my dad. Although he died almost 18 years ago, he raised me and my 5 brothers and sisters with a strong work ethic, a respect for people of all backgrounds and a healthy respect for time. In fact, I am often teased for always being early or at least very punctual and I find it sad that in today's world, we seem to have lost a lot of the basic tenets of common sense and courtesy.[/quote:36ce5c3z] Very true - its important to create loyal customers and I've always felt that great customer service is a great way to start that process. If I deal with a company and its clear they don't care about my business and they don't support me, I look around for someone who does. Why support a business that won't support me? Chris
Re: SEO for your small business: 4 tips - Hi Resumewebsite, Internal links can only work if you target it to appropriate page i.e when user click on that make sure the user get relevant information.
How to Do Great Marketing with (Amost) No Money - I've given this presentation to CEOs many times. Now i can share it with you. But I cannot because I do not yet have 20 posts. Jeff Ogden, President Find New Customers


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