Tom Feltenstein

I’m constantly amazed at what I’ve seen and heard over the years. Several years ago, I read a story about a woman who broke her thumb trying to bang a nail into the wall with her high heeled shoe. A hammer would seem the better choice in hindsight but it points out the fact that we often do what’s easiest instead of what’s best. Why is it that we waste our time looking for the quick fix or that elusive “something” to make our business better when the answer is right in front of our eyes? So many businesses search for the newest methods to find and keep customers without realizing that their best avenue is standing right in front of them – their employees.

Your employees, or internal customers, are an integral part of your business. I saw a sign one time in a restaurant that said “If mamma ain’t happy ain’t nobody happy” and I remember thinking to myself the same can be said for employees. If you want your external customers to have an exceptional experience, you have to meet the needs of your internal customers. Your employees have to be happy and satisfied with all aspects of their job otherwise you’ll experience high turnover and a potential loss of revenue as a result.

Don’t fall into the trap of taking the attitude that you are doing your employees a favor by giving them a paycheck. We as business owners and managers need employees just as much as they need us. When your internal customers don’t feel you appreciate them, they’re going to find an employer that does. Making an internal customer feel valued and a part of the company doesn’t have to cost money. One of the best ways I’ve found to show a new employee your appreciation is to stick a congratulatory note in with their first paycheck thanking them for all of their hard work. Recognizing the contribution of all your employees is a simple as saying thank you on a regular basis.

I always say if you treated your external customers the way you treat your internal customers (or employees), you wouldn’t have any customers.

That is the key.  All great companies depend on great employees who will support products and services, and validate the brand.   Employees who are enthusiastic and gracious service providers make the greatest brand impression on consumers and are most effective and enduring, and ensuring repeat visits.

For successful companies, the most truly effective marketing starts with employees.  It has to.

Companies can do all the clever marketing in the world, but if your internal customers aren’t on board, engaged, and enthusiastic, the results will be unsatisfying for the brand.  And any executive who understands this aspect of four walls marketing tends to reap tremendous rewards.

What kind of marketing plan do you have for your internal customers?

Marketing is the message, but human beings with hearts and souls are the messengers.   We’re in the feeling business; everyone is.  We need to focus on the experience your customers and your employees have with you and your company.  Respect authenticity, empathy, being vulnerable.

So, I recommend a plan for everyone that I work with to always start with an internal customer survey.  You have a two-point prong here.  First, it’s recruiting, and I have lots to share about this subject later, and the other is all of those internal customers you have on board now.  How are they feeling about themselves?  We do all this external research, but we do not seem to do the internal research as we should.  Our role isn’t to measure employee satisfaction; it’s to create employee excitement.  So, the survey really gauges the self-esteem of the employees that becomes the litmus test for what happens next in the sales-growth plan.

Many clients are surprised when they find out that only 35 percent of their employees   would recommend their product, service, or business to their friends and families.

Look at the revolutionary power of employees Zappos has created!

You can unleash THE SECRET POWER of your internal customers – your employees – with proper recruiting, training, and motivation. Do this, and you’ll turn them into an amazing sales force that will work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, virtually FREE.

The importance of the internal customer is not new. In fact, Henry Ford struggled with the issue of high turnover resulting in delivering poor quality and service to Ford’s customers as long ago as 1914. Ford found it necessary to hire at least 60,000 workers each year just to keep 10,000 people on the line. He paid them 80 cents per day.

Ford decided to gamble—he raised the pay from 80 cents per day to 5 dollars per day. Was he crazy? Maybe just a maverick and an innovator.

Here’s what happened. No longer did the plant have to recruit and train 50,000 replacement workers.

Henry had a waiting list of eager applicants, service and quality improved and profits quickly doubled.