I have the view that when you provide services to internal staff, they should be referred to as customers rather than users, colleagues, associates etc. Do you agree?
My perspective on this comes from the point of view that all of the consumers of the service can criticise the service and stop using the service, so they should all be treated as having the same rights as a ‘paying’ customer. Furthermore, I believe that the above is often most relevant for the service providers that have been treating the consumers of the service as users for a period of time, as this normally allows complacency to set in, which then results in the customer receiving an inconsistent service.
An example that further supports this point can be made with the service you receive at a restaurant; it shouldn’t matter if one person is paying the bill for the whole table, all of the diners would expect to be treated the same when being served.
If differentiation is needed, then I would suggest using the term ‘Customers’ for the people that are sometimes called ‘Users’, and the term ‘Senior Customer’ for the person that pays for a service such as a department head.
Feedback and comments are always welcome!
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