How to treat both the internal and external customers

In the majority of cases, when a firm refers to "customers," it doesn't just mean those who walk into the store or place an order over the phone or online. People who are attempting to accomplish corporate goals may be considered customers. The employees are they. Internal and external employees both play important roles in ensuring the success of the company, although having different responsibilities. Any user of an organization's goods or services who is not a client is considered an external customer. An external customer could be anyone who enters a business to make a purchase if you own a retail establishment, for instance. Any organization employee who needs support from other employees to perform their job is referred other workers to fill his/her duties. A sales representative, for instance, is considered an internal customer when he/she requires assistance from a customer service assistant for an order to be placed (Johlke, & Iyer, 2013).

It is through external customers that the success of any business is oriented since these customers provide a revenue stream by purchasing products that the business needs to survive. When services are satisfactory, external customers make repeated purchases while referring the business to other people. This not only helps in polishing a firm’s reputation but also increases the overall potential profits margin by increasing customer (internal or external) inflow. Many business owners have a penchant to focus on the relationship involving external customers since they are the ones frequently making purchases at the company. Since the need of external customers deem more vital than internal customers, involving and aiming to improve external customer relationships is therefore mandatory. External customers ensure high quality products are manufactured as they are the first testers of ‘products’. In parallel, external customers in the production line together with the performance management team in ensuring quality services and products are created and delivered to consumers.

Reference

Johlke, M. C., & Iyer, R. (2013). A model of retail job characteristics, employee role ambiguity, external customer mind-set, and sales performance. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20(1), 58-67.