In the context of a business supply chain – whether relating to the manufacturing or service sectors – it is usual to define three types of Customer:
External customers
These can be defined as the people outside our organization who receive our goods or services – but do bear in mind there may be a “chain” of customer/supplier relationships (first/second/third tier etc.
Examples where we see this might be within the automotive component supply chain or within the retail sector, where the final customer or consumer is a member of the general public.
Internal customers
In order to deliver a quality product or service to our end or external customer, it is clearly essential that all the links within the organization work well. We can consider these internal links as suppliers and customers to one another – the internal customer/supplier quality chain.
For this to work, it is important that:
Stakeholders and interested parties
External customers are not the only group of people who look for satisfaction from an organization.
Typical Stakeholders or Interested Parties of an organization include:
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organisation’s actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources.
Not all stakeholders are equal. A company’s customers are entitled to fair trading practices but they are not entitled to the same consideration as the company’s employees.
An example of a negative impact on stakeholders is when a company needs to cut costs and plans a round of layoffs. This negatively affects the community of workers in the area and therefore the local economy.
Ways to communicate quality strategy can include:
An improved communication strategy
Clearly this will be different and unique for each organisation, but here are a few key points which might be helpful:
Action planning – setting objectives
When embarking on any communication plan, it is essential to determine the desired outcome or effects of the communication. Whoever you are communicating with and whatever the message, there is likely to be an intended consequence, and quite possibly an unintended consequence of that action.
Communication objectives should always be SMART:
First establish the drivers behind the communication plan. These could include:
Next, establish the most appropriate method of communication, which could include:
Then select the audience, this could be:
• Customers
• Prospective customers
• Suppliers
• Regulatory bodies
• Employees
• Stakeholders – e.g. investors/shareholders, Board of Directors
Next determine the desired outcome (again using the SMART approach) this could be:
Set the timescale for the communication, including:
Carry out the communication as per the plan and then evaluate the results to ascertain whether or not the action achieved the desired outcomes.