Who is our Customer?

A few years ago, I came across the concept of looking at your organizational, professional, and personal relationships in the same way you approach your relationship with a customer. At first, I was quite resistant to this idea, largely because of the transactional connotation of the word, and the suggestions to apply that to people and relationships. But nomenclature aside, the merit I saw in it was a framework to clearly understand expectations.

Why do this?

In an organizations context, it provides an opportunity and a framework to clearly understand what it will take to effectively work together towards accomplishing what you intend to. Work happens when people and organizations work effectively together and set up processes that work in their context. The same logic can be applied to personal relationships also.

What this made me realize

• I am also the customer of who I consider my customer

I Say Organic's primary customers (those who pay us for the services we provide) are the households who buy from us. How are we their customers too? Well, because we also have some expectations out of them. Like they should pay us within a timeframe communicated to them and outlined in our policies, and deal with us ethically. There have been a few instances over the years when we've had to blacklist certain people as they weren't meeting these expectations. Similarly, we are our farmer's customers, and they have to deliver us the quality and quantity expected of them. They have to maintain practices that comply with our standards for organic food, and the required documentation for certification. On the other hand, we are also their customers, and have to honour the credit period for payments, and buy adequate quantity from them.

• The importance of sharing expectations

I would often find myself frustrated at someone, for them not living up to an unstated, but according to me, an obvious expectation. This would be frequent in both my personal and professional relationships. The remedy was quite simple. Like we lay down KRA's for each role in our organizations, we should also take some time to first think and then share what our expectations are out of people and organizations we are working with. Something as simple as, when I Send you an email I'd like a response within 24 hours. Or, I would want to you bring matters of X/Y/Z nature to me, only after discussing it with your manager and if a solution is not found. Or, if something of this nature happens, I expect you to inform me immediately. Something even as simple as, if it is an urgent matter that you need me for, and I haven't responded to an email and it's been 30 minutes, please call me, and if I don't answer leave me a message on WhatsApp and keep calling.

• Understanding expectations and the role of listening

If you're lucky, the other will be adept at sharing what his/her expectations are. But if they're not, that doesn't give you a free pass! You must try to listen, through your ears, eyes and gut, to what might be an unsaid or non-eloquently said, or awkwardly said expectation. There can be various indicators for expectations not being met, and why someone might not be able to share expectations. For instance, a constant turnover in labor force world point to them not being happy in the workplace or with the company policies. The labor force in our country is usually not empowered or educated/trained enough to constructively share their expectations with the organization. So it falls upon the management to create a culture and safe space to understand their needs. Similarly, I realized that juniors are generally more conscious of what they say to their managers compared to the west, and the hierarchies can be more obviously seen in the Indian workforce. There is a lot of research and knowledge on how to understand customer expectations and needs that all marketing courses teach. Companies pay a lot of money for this. Perhaps some of these tools can also be used to understand expectations and needs of our "internal" customers.

I Say Organic's Customers

A quick list of some of the customers for us

• Households/Individuals who buy from us
• Households/Individuals who inquire about our services (potential customers)
• Business we supply to - the purchase managers, the chefs, the business owners
• Our Employees
• Our Farmers
• Certifiers
• Service Providers - Agencies, Developers, Designers etc.
• Health and Wellness Thought Leaders

Would love to hear your thoughts, who you think are your customers, and if you think we should add to the list of I Say Organic's customers.