From the course: Leading with Purpose
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The folly of internal customers
- The concept of internal customer sounds good in theory, but in practice it waters down the emphasis on real customers. Employees who don't interact with external customers are often told they have internal customers, like the IT department may serve the sales team or the finance department may serve ops. But at a gut level, everyone knows an internal customer is not the same as an external paying customer. It's just not that motivating. Internal customers don't garner the same urgency or enthusiasm that real customers do. At best, the concept can breed ambivalence over internal customers, and at worst, resentment. Think about a sports team or the military. No soccer fullback is saying, "I shall pass the ball to my forward "because she's my internal customer "and I want her to be delighted by my service." There's not a navy mechanic saying, "You know, these pilots are my internal customers. "I strive to give them excellent service." Not even close. Instead they say, "I've got my…
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