Honestly, is there an internal customer? The term “Internal Customer” has been so used that it has become a cliché, losing its original meaning. The term Internal Customer was originally used in the field of Management Science (MS). However, it was later popularized by Joseph Juran, the management consultant known for his dedication to quality management in business, especially factories.
The initial use of the term Internal Customers was intended to refer to ‘users’. This user refers to the people who will use the production of another department or unit. Thus the term internal and external customer was born. External customer refers to customers/consumers outside the company who are users of the company’s product/services and internal customer refers to the user of the product/services of another department/unit. The use was purely for technical differentiation.
However, the term was later expanded to reflect management styles, teamwork, interdepartmental communication, etc. The extension went beyond the technical relationships between departments and individuals in the company (known as hard areas) to include the soft areas of attitude, experience, teamwork, etc. This is when you’ll find bosses who promote teamwork by asking employees to see and treat another department like their own customer. What seems shocking is that even trainers and consultants preach this gospel when they themselves cannot treat their own receptionist or account clerk like a customer.
The point is that first we have to be really honest with ourselves and answer this question: “Can I see and treat the accounts department or the purchasing department, marketing, IT, technical support, as our own client?” And that means you work to put your best foot forward for the other department, take all their nonsense, and put your mind at ease by saying with a smile, “Oh, well… after all, they’re my clients.”
The problem lies in the word – Customer. The very word suggests to our mind that it is a business transaction, money, and that a direct monetary benefit will arise from this transaction. These things are not as obvious when dealing with another department (at least not as directly as with actual clients). So why are we swimming upstream to beat up our team to accept other colleagues as customers? Let’s face the fact… it’s not going to happen. The other department may be your internal customer from the point of view of Juran’s management science. But they are definitely not customers from the point of view of our daily interaction and operation. The Internal Client is a Myth.
The answer is Partner. Instead of pummeling the workforce into accepting the idea of an internal customer (which tickles the brain itself every time it hears it); Why not use a term that our psychology and conscience would accept? Partner is a much more acceptable term.
In sales and customer service we talk about maturing the seller-buyer relationship. This process of maturation from consumer to partner starts from a Consumer to a Client to a Client and then to a Partner. When a person buys something from us through a third party or an intermediary, they are consumers for us. When they buy it from us, they become our customers. A client refers to a relationship in which the seller acts as an advisor. This could be when the product or service requires guidance or follow-up. Such examples would be like a lawyer, wellness centers, fitness instructors, and to some extent even real estate agents. The third stage is called the Partner. This is when the buyer and seller have formed a powerful bond that is bonded by trust, transparency, mutual respect, and interest in each other’s success. We are talking about a powerful relationship that is productive for both of us.
The situation with a work team is that by default they are in a partner situation. Systems, processes and daily activities are centered around a partnership-like relationship rather than a customer relationship. So why would we want to ‘de-mature’ (if that term is to be understood) that relationship to a customer-supplier relationship? Taking a client situation, you would probably call one of his clients Mr. Goldwin or Mrs. Johnson in previous meetings. But in a partnership relationship, you would conveniently refer to them by their first names. Wouldn’t it look weird for a person who calls someone Tim all the time to one day call him Mr. Goldwin?
While I’m not saying you will call your colleagues by their last name in an internal client situation; the rarity of treating a colleague as a ‘client’ is as absurd as that. So the best alternative would be to motivate the team to accept each other as partners. This can be achieved by building trust in the team, practicing a sense of openness at the leadership level, making everyone on the team feel special for their contribution, and showing how their personal successes depend on the successes of the team. Team members are not internal customers but partners. Let’s be honest with ourselves.