Why Internal Communication Matters for Customer Satisfaction

“I’m sorry, that’s not my job/department,” or “I don’t know, you need to talk to someone else.” You’ve likely heard something like this more than once when trying to find out information or solve a problem in a work setting or a personal situation. Regardless of where you heard it, you likely felt annoyed, angry or confused — in other words, the other person’s indifference or lack of cooperation left you feeling anything but positive.

Organizations often invest considerable time, effort and money into creating stellar communication strategies to connect with customers or stakeholders, but sometimes drop the ball on internal communication. Ineffective internal communication and inadequate cooperation have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. If your business isn’t succeeding as much as you would like, it might be time to evaluate your internal communication. Here’s how to improve internal communication and cooperation between individuals and departments.

Evaluate customer reviews and complaints

Sadly, customers are far more likely to complain than offer a compliment, but those complaints can reveal problems within your organization. Review customer complaints and reviews and look for trends. Pay particular attention to ones that indicate your customers feel their issues or concerns aren’t being addressed. You can also send surveys to clients or customers for feedback. If you see a common thread, dig deeper into why — chances are, the employees who interact directly with customers might need more support from others within the organization.

Consider adding additional internal communication channels

You probably communicate with your customers across multiple channels (email, social media, text messages, websites, newsletters, snail mail, etc.) Evaluate your internal communication tools to see if you can improve on them. The recent trend toward remote work creates additional collaboration and internal communication challenges. Adding an instant messaging app like Slack or Microsoft Teams can improve immediate communication, especially with remote workers. If your organization has an intranet, ensure all employees can access it.

However, simply adding additional channels is only the first step — the content you share must be meaningful, relevant and understandable for employees to find value in it. Mix up your content with company news, upcoming changes, helpful tips, social events and employee recognition — and don’t forget to include fun anecdotes or silly memes to liven things up!

Ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities

This might seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes, problems arise because employees assume certain tasks or responsibilities belong to others. Sometimes, we resist bringing in other individuals or departments when that can be the exact thing to improve employee and customer satisfaction.

One of our core values at Ticketnology is something we call “Know your setlist,” which essentially means understanding our role, knowing how to do it well — and knowing when to ask for help if the challenge is beyond our knowledge or ability. Abiding by this “setlist” core value helps us deliver top-notch service to our clients.

?

However, tread carefully when bringing in others because you don’t want others to see your request for help as adding to their workload! Help all involved grasp the value of collaboration, whether it’s immediate problem-solving improvements or longer-term business growth due to happier customers.

Foster an environment of partnership and cooperation

Just as you build and maintain relationships with your customers and clients, it’s equally important to do the same with your employees. Ask employees for feedback and suggestions on what changes would make their workload more efficient and effective. Try to implement ones that will address their concerns.

Friendly competition between departments can increase interaction and collaboration. It can also be helpful to have employees switch roles briefly so they can better understand the challenges their colleagues face – the “walk a mile in my shoes” concept hasn’t been around for nothing!

Understand that not all changes will be welcomed

Humans are creatures of habit, so sometimes, changes to our tasks or responsibilities can feel stressful or unnecessary. Changes that upper management is excited about may not resonate the same with the “worker bees.” Just as you would alleviate a “pain point” for a customer, you can take the same approach with employees. Thoughtful communication can help minimize resistance and help all impacted understand how the changes will benefit them.

Be prepared for things to go wrong — because they will

Even the most meticulously planned event or change can become a mini or major crisis, so it’s essential to have robust internal communication practices in place! Employees who know their roles well and feel comfortable pointing out potential problems before a crisis can prevent it or minimize the risks. Again, employees knowing when to ask for help — and help given willingly ensures that your customers and clients will benefit.

The takeaway

Satisfied customers or clients are essential to any organization’s success! One surefire way to ensure satisfaction is a collaborative work environment where employees feel supported. Improving your internal communication practices fosters cooperation and collaboration between individuals and departments.