Our Client's Colleague

 Our Client's Colleague

In business, the concept of focusing on customer service and making sure customers are happy is not new. An important principle for many companies, particularly prosperous ones, is to shape their operations in a way that meets the needs of their customers. This principle applies even to companies that do not deal directly with the general public.

However, it might be challenging for some parts of any company to adopt a customer service mindset since they rarely interact with clients. A public-facing or traditionally customer-focused business model may not be present in the workplace.

That is why it is becoming increasingly common for businesses of all stripes to promote an internal shift in work ethic in which employees see the people who make use of their product as consumers rather than suppliers.

When done right, it makes everyone in the company see their superiors, coworkers, and, most importantly, those who depend on their work from other departments as clients or customers. Theoretically, this strategy aims to instill a customer service mindset in employees, even if their job primarily benefits other divisions or individuals inside the organization.

It is a fresh way for every company to alter its corporate culture. An office worker, in particular, can benefit from adopting the mentality of an entrepreneur or a salesperson when they arrive at work. This will allow them to be more proactive in meeting the needs of their "customers" and will also increase their sense of personal fulfillment.

The attempt to change the conventional culture of a traditional office-based work environment is a commendable one. Conventional wisdom holds that "cubicle farm" workplaces are culturally very similar to Dilbert.

If you're a manager attempting to motivate an innovative and aggressive workforce to achieve organizational goals, reading that strip might be excruciating. However, Dilbert does bring up a few points regarding typical office communication issues.

The strip pokes fun at low morale in the workplace, employees' cynicism about management, and the widespread problem of employees' predisposition to act in an unproductive manner.

The idea behind client-coworker relationships in business is to encourage employees to give their all, even when their work is limited to their own department or another internal unit.

Following the client-customer model entails treating the other division as a client and extending the same "eager to please" level of customer care to that internal connection as is required when dealing with the external customers that generate income for the business.

Bringing a customer service mindset to the company's internal support services can yield some tangible benefits. It can bring a team together and give them a sense of purpose when paired with other empowering approaches like process improvement and open communication with management at all levels.

But we must stay away from the client-customer model's pitfalls. Workplace tensions and resentment can arise when one person perceives that another is not treating them like a client, thanks to this attitude.

There is a lot of benefit to a team-oriented corporate culture, but the client-customer model has the potential to separate employees from one another and lessen camaraderie. However, by applying the client-customer paradigm to a corporate context, an astute manager can reap the benefits of increased productivity while deftly avoiding its drawbacks. 

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