Symptom: We do not think we sell products to customers.
Everyone in a business organization is there to serve someone else -- that is, to sell products and services to a customer.
The customer-supplier relationship applies between staff groups and their internal clients. It also applies within a function, such as between a prime contractor and other "subcontractors" on a project team.
It doesn't matter whether or not money changes hands. A customer-supplier relationship is still the best way to build effective teamwork, mutual respect, and clear accountability for results.
By the way, treating people as customers does not make a staff person a passive order-taker. As an internal entrepreneur, staff can be very proactive in building customer awareness and developing innovative product lines. They just can't force people to buy from them.
If people don't think in terms of pleasing their customers, then contracting will seem like unnecessary bureaucracy.
Root cause:Culture (customer focus) copyright 2024 N. Dean Meyer and Associates Inc. All rights reserved.
