You Should be Paying your Customers!
What is your definition of a customer? You may be surprised to find you have more than you originally thought.
Webster’s dictionary defines a “customer” as someone who purchases a commodity or service, or one with some specified distinctive trait (i.e. a “real tough customer”). We’re generally good about taking care of the first version, but do we remember to cater to the second?
In the commercial print market we serve the needs of our customers on an hourly if not by-the-minute pace, selling, communicating, filling orders and meeting deadlines. It can be difficult, but when you think about it, we’re not alone. Every industry in every market has the same issues in bringing a product or service to market, and we all go after the same goal: the customer.
But what if I told you that but you have more customers in your business than you think? It’s true, and you should be looking to their needs too. You might not even have to go very far to find them.
For most of the modern age, the goals of business and marketing have centered on those who purchase our products and services. These outside buyers were and, justifiably, remain the most important, driving our business growth and investment, and they have been where all internal production and marketing efforts are directed.
Yet recently a new and equally important type of customer has emerged – the internal one. We’re talking about those departments or persons who provide you your products or services.
The customer spotlight began to turn inward when companies decided to outsource certain products they previously manufactured themselves. Outsourcing becomes necessary at times to improve on price, quality and meet certain production levels companies can’t do internally. Outsourcing also means our long-term, internal suppliers no longer hold a captive market. They can feel neglected, even ignored.
Yet, if we reverse the trend – pull formerly outsourced goods and services back into internal production – we also rebuild communications, partnerships and, more importantly, the customer-supplier relationship so important to the production process of our successful products. The respect and level of service formally reserved for external customers is now extended to internal customers to keep those jobs in-house.
The key point is every business has internal customers and suppliers, even the commercial printer. Communication between every department your product touches and the suppliers involved is essential when providing world-class products and services. Improving your work processes and lowering your costs make happy customers — both internal and external.
But how can this actually work to help protect and improve your business?
Say that you own a pizza shop. You have customers that order on a regular basis. Yet the day comes when you realize one of your regular customers seems to quit ordering. You pick up the phone and ask if there were any problems with past deliveries. “Bob” the customer says they found burn marks or “black stuff” on the bottom of his pizza crust. It seems the kids no longer want to order pizza from your shop because it looks funny.
Armed with this new information, we approach your baker. You mention the problem and ask him to clean the ovens more often. While it seemed like the logical, quick fix, the baker says it will delay each order about 10 minutes. He says the real problem is the sauce seems to drips over the edge of the pizza as it is cooking and burns into the crust. The story continues the farther back up the chain you go. The toppings chef says the crust dough isn’t right, and the crust “flipper” says the dough maker has skimped on something else …
The point is, they all have problems, yet it took you talking to them individually to trace back their concerns. Like it is for any business, you must look to satisfy the needs of your own internal customers … all those other departments counting on you … so you can together, as a team, satisfy the external customer.
I am sure you can make similar analogies within your own shop. The order was late because it was printed on the wrong equipment. The customer is upset because we mailed using the wrong database. This order got messed up in binding because…. The list can go on and on.
If you think of your internal employees and co-workers as “customers,” you can build a better process for internal communication. Good communication will allow you to look past the obvious symptoms of a problem and allow you to find the underlying root causes.
It is common knowledge that 100% inspection is not 100% accurate. To prevent the shipment of a bad product, design an internal process that prevents if from being made in the first place. Your own internal customers can help you do it.
So, when was the last time you asked your internal customers how you could improve your goods or services?
John Kaufman, an expert in marketing digital solutions for high volume digital production printing. He brings 20 years digital product solutions, application development and industry marketing experience to the digital printing and graphic arts market. Mr. Kaufman in the Chicago land area.
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