Barclays’ Internal and External Customers :: Business Management Studies

Barclays’ Internal and External Customers Barclays offers a wide range of services to both internal and external customers. Internal customers are member of staff/colleagues that work in an organisation. Examples of internal customers in Barclays include: Small Business Managers, Customer Relations Team, telephone operators, Financial Planning Managers, Customer Service staff, Counter staff, Accountants, Consumer Relations Team, and Relationship Managers. External customers are the majority of individuals who lives in the local areas. Examples of external customers of Barclays include: disabled people, elderly, foreign people, parents, couples, widows, divorcees and students (from schools, colleges, and universities). Internal customers Barclays has number of internal customers who works for them, and also does banking with them. About 5% of accounts belong to Barclays’ staff. It is very important for Barclays to have internal customers because, without them, the financial organisation will have difficulties to meet the needs of external customers. For example, if you image the organisation as an iceberg, only 1/10th is above the water (the external customer), but 9/10th is hidden below the water (internal customers) which, is supporting external customers. This good example of importance of internal customers was extracted from the following website: www.citysun.ac.uk/newonline/customercare/task1/intro.htm. So, if you remove the bottom half of the iceberg (internal customers), top half of the iceberg (the external customer) will sink- in the other words, the whole organisation will come to an end. It is important for Barclays to treat their internal customers in the same way, as they treat their external customers. The advantages of having internal customers to employees: * Better working conditions * Better job satisfaction * Less stress * Having the ‘feel good’ factor * Being part of a good working team The advantages of having internal customers to the organisation: * Less waste and stoppages * Improved communications * A happier workforce * Fewer problems * Increased customer loyalty * Better service to external customers The advantages of having internal customers to the external customers: * A higher, sustained level of service * Faster responses times * Knows that the organisation cares As a result, internal customer care is based on good manners, knowing where your job fits in, working efficiently with colleagues, working as a member of a team, and respecting colleagues’ needs and rights. Organisations, such as Barclays believe that, there are three kinds of attitudes and behaviours towards colleagues that would be essential for quality internal customer care: 1. Caring for colleagues- this would include: making individuals feel good- this will help them to work better, they would become more cooperative, responding reasonably to their needs, and accepting a sense of shared responsibility 2. Cooperating with colleagues- this would include: can get things