What is internal customer service?

Internal customer service is the provision of services within a company to employees. When employees need to arrange something that has to go through the organization, the way they interface with the organization is through internal customer service.

For example, if someone wants to arrange annual paid leave, they might need to apply first. The dates they take off will need to be registered in the system, and a replacement might need to be found to fill in during their absence. Organizing this can be complicated, which is why an internal customer service department is important.

Internal versus external customers

While internal customer service accommodates people working within the organization, external customer service meets the needs of people from outside the organization. This can be consumers of products and services, but it may also be other parties involved with an organization.

Examples of internal customers

More broadly, internal customers, by definition, are anyone who plays a role in or has a professional relationship with the company. This can be:

• Employees
• Partners
• Stakeholders
• Suppliers
• Shareholders

Internal customers can also be freelance workers, independent contractors or people hired for one-off, ad hoc work.

Examples of external customers

External customers have no professional relationship with a company outside of:

• Purchasing products
• Using services
• Renting or hiring products

The importance of internal customer services

Every business encounters obstacles, but effective internal customer service ensures consistency for your team’s productivity. Making sure your workers have everything they require to accomplish their goals is essential to every internal service team. When things are running smoothly, employees spend less time troubleshooting and more time interacting with profit generation.

If your staff is happy, this will reflect in how they interface with consumers. Your support and service teams will operate with greater assurance when they’re confident in the company’s internal integrity.

12 Internal customer service best practices

Now that you’re familiar with internal customer service and know why it’s important for an organization, let’s walk through some of the best practices. You can start adopting these practices today to improve your business’s internal service to employees and partners.

1. Understand employee goals

Having your workday derailed because of a broken device or being unableto access critical information can be frustrating. Try to identify the needs and requirements of employees and figure out how internal customer service can bridge the gap. It can be helpful to ask employees to assist you with identifying dysfunctional gaps and get their input on how to fill them. Employees are at the heart of every business, so making sure they’ve got everything they need is critical to success.

2. Provide self-support options

The more self-support options you offer to employees, the less pressure your internal service team will be under. It might be worth considering implementing a virtual assistant to help with certain needs. Some tasks, like registering for paid leave or scheduling a meeting with HR, could be done by automation systems. Delegating simple tasks to a virtual service provider leaves room for your human team to deal with more complex issues.

3. Use customer services tools

Today’s technological landscape offers many tools for streamlining organizational processes. By investing in customer service tools specifically designed for employees, companies can create a more positive work environment and improve employee satisfaction. In turn, this can lead to happier customers and better overall business performance.

Some examples of employee-focused customer service tools include portals where employees can access information about company policies and procedures, 24/7 support lines for when they have questions or concerns and online training modules to help them stay up to date on best practices.

4. Be respectful

It’s always important to emphasize a policy of respect within organizations. Mutual respect is an important aspect of any type of relationship, and professional relationships, including service operations, are no exception.

Training staff to deal with the occasional frustrated employee might take a little more effort, but it’s paramount in keeping everyone happy. Incorporating tips on respectful behavior into employee handbooks and providing extra training after major complaints can be a good way of mitigating potential conflict.

5. Chart the organization’s structure

When employees encounter a problem, it’s important they know who to take it to. For this reason, charting the organization’s structure so employees know exactly where to go when experiencing a particular kind of problem helps streamline internal customer services.

It can be very frustrating for employees to deal with a problem when everyone they ask about it redirects them to someone else. People can lose entire days of work due to not being able to find the help they need. As such, having internal customer services clearly compartmentalized is beneficial to everyone.

6. Be transparent

It’s not only employees who should be transparent about their work and goals —but it’s also important for workplace leaders. Employees who don’t understand the unique roles their superiors play won’t have as much respect for them. When it comes to internal customer service, transparency is important for ensuring that employees don’t feel they’re being undercut, treated unfairly or misled.

Furthermore, trying to weave secrecy into customer service is far more complex than adopting an open and honest policy. Eventually, employees will sense the lack of transparency, which may lead to an erosion of trust.

7. Reinforce expectations

After establishing company standards and expectations, make sure to reinforce them regularly. This way, if employees slip up, they can’t use “I didn’t know” as an excuse. Basic standards won’t need to be reinforced as often, but certain things work better with constant reminders.

For example, reinforcing a policy of being polite and respectful when talking to customers may result in fewer customer complaints. This can positively impact business in many tangible and intangible ways.

Another example might be if employees are expected to arrange for someone to substitute for them before organizing their holiday. Unless they’re reminded of this often, they might pay for their travel and holiday accommodation but have nobody to fill their place. This can leave the company in trouble, so it’s worth taking preventative measures to make sure it doesn’t happen.

8. Open multiple channels

Internal service teams should be easy to get in touch with. To facilitate communication, each team should have, at the least, a phone number and email address. The most effective internal teams have ticketing systems that keep track of service requests and answers provided. In this manner, you can track every internal conversation and use earlier instances as needed. It also allows the employee to rest at ease, knowing that their problem is being systematically dealt with.

If you’re unsure about how to implement a multichannel customer service system, it might be worth using a customer service tool that supports multiple channels.

9. Refine customer service training

Organizations that invest in customer service training for employees often see a significant improvement in internal customer service. When employees feel valued and supported, they’re more productive and engaged in their work. This can lead to improved morale, reduced turnover and increased profits. In other words, investing in customer service training is not only good for employees — it’s good for business.

If training is something you struggle with, consider hiring customer service training professionals. Delegating training to experts can save you time and ensure your staff is learning the most relevant tips.

10. Create and adhere to standards

Without basic standards to adhere to, customer service will be inconsistent at best. It’s important to explicitly outline standards, not only for external customer service but also for servicing employees and partners. Once you’ve established standards, checking in regularly to ensure they’re being followed helps ensure long-term consistency.

You can also create a rating system where employees can rate their experience each time they use internal services. This is a simple and effective way of knowing whether your employees are satisfied with the support they’re receiving.

11. Collect and adapt to feedback

Giving employees, partners, contractors and stakeholders a platform to voice their thoughts on your organization’s internal support can help you identify issues. If you’re concerned that they aren’t happy with the support they receive, it may be worth considering holding monthly or bimonthly feedback rounds.

However, simply collecting feedback isn’t enough to foster real change — you also need to act on it. By using the feedback provided, you can identify gaps in functionality. You may even notice patterns, with multiple people reporting the same issue. Once you’ve identified the problems, be sure to incorporate that into your next training sessions for representatives. This cycle of improvement will reflect positively on the company in many ways.

Your employees will feel more confident, knowing that their needs are supported, and this will improve their morale when interacting with public consumers.

12. Prioritize problem-solving

Quick problem-solving is one of the greatest customer service techniques for companies. When teams or a single internal customer complains, their concerns should be acknowledged and addressed as soon as possible. It fosters a negative environment and decreases employee morale when problems mentioned by employees go unresolved.

Being effective at getting problems dealt with can also influence your company’s employees to adopt the same philosophy. Hopefully, this will be reflected in how they interface with public consumers.

13. Create an appropriate communications schedule

If employees must deal with work-related tasks between 9am and 5pm every day, then having a customer service department that only operates within these times might be problematic. It doesn’t give employees many opportunities to get their problems dealt with.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to ensure that the scheduling makes sense. If customer service only takes place via email, this is less of a concern as emails can be sent back and forth throughout the day. However, for more complex issues that require face-to-face interactions, make sure that employees have an allocated time to do that.

It might be worth implementing a ticket system. When their number is called, employees can go to an internal customer service representative to discuss their issues. Alternatively, you could allow employees to book appointments online to haveissues dealt with the next day. Without the need to wait in line, employees can focus on their work until it’s their time to be seen. This would ultimately be beneficial for everyone.

Keeping things running smoothly

While there’s often a greater focus on pleasing external customers, making sure employees and other internal customers get support is also important. Before providing the right support to internal parties, you’ll need to understand their needs and concerns. Giving them a platform to voice concerns and offer feedback can help you get insight into their daily struggles. This makes providing effective internal customer services that much easier.

Once you’ve established a system to provide internal customer services, make sure it’s implemented, and that representatives operate on an ethos of respect, getting the problem solved as effectively as possible. You can do this by providing regular training and outlining the importance of effective problem-solving. Satisfied employees will reflect positively on your company, and you can enjoy the benefits of being seen in a good light by the public and employees alike.