Internal Customers; They're Your Customer

For your business owners out there, your employees are your customer. Think about it, you could not run your business without them, and, it is to your benefit to treat them with the same care as you treat your paying customers.

Internal customer service starts with business owners and managers. It is their responsibility to set the tone and culture of the business. If the tone and culture is one of treating employees well and with respect, you can bet that your employee will treat your external customers (paying customers) with similar tone. In contrast, if you treat your employees as simply workers, they in-turn will treat your external customers as just customers.

Evaluating your internal customer service "quotient" can be a simple as conducting your own SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) analysis. Though typically reserved for marketing strategy analysis, a SWOT analysis that examines customer service, internal and external customer service can be revealing. Below, is an example of an internal customer service SWOT analysis.

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
· Practice includes customer service as part of their Mission Statement · Management has set the expectation · The practice utilizes staff uniforms, including a name badge · Office is clean and provides an open, inviting reception area	· Practice experience relatively high turnover, necessitating only basic CS training · Little daily management of CS activities · Retail area appears unkempt
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
· Annual employee evaluations do not include customer service as a measured metric · Practice does not use EMR or other CRM technology · Need for ongoing CS training	· Other area practices utilizing EMR/CRM technology · Improve staff retention

For your analysis, consider conducting an input session with your practice's management team. Remain open with all critique and refrain from defending any position you may have taken in the past. By doing so, you demonstrate one of the key elements of leadership, listening. You might be surprised at what you learn and the new direction this activity brings.