We usually provide our promotional items such as custom mugs to Perth businesses for promotional purposes. Normally this is for the purpose of bringing in customers or stimulating business. However, there is a little-known concept in business called the “internal customer.”
The Internal Customer
Businesses have two kinds of customers that they must keep satisfied to succeed: the external customer and the internal customer. The external customer is the traditional one: the person who does business with your company. Most of our promotional items are geared towards attracting more external customers for your business.
However, the internal customer is even more important to your company’s success. So, who are the internal customers? Your employees are your internal customers. This is a concept that isn’t understood by many business owners or managers, but the ones who “get it” usually run successful, thriving businesses.
Just as you have to convince external customers to buy your products, you must convince internal customers to “buy into” your vision. Businesses that fail to do this have a hard time “controlling their employees” and wonder why their turnover is so high.
Businesses who get their internal customers to “buy in” have employees who seem like they have been there forever, love their jobs and go out of their way to promote customer satisfaction. They always do what is best for the business because they care. Ultimately, they treat the business as though it were their own, a concept called “taking ownership.”
Always remember that your employees are really customers and treat them as such.
How Something as Simple as a Custom Mug can Help
People love recognition, especially at work. They love to be rewarded for doing something right. For most workers, it seems like they are always being told what they do wrong but never thanked when they do everything right. It’s as if the smallest mistake is criticised, while it takes an unprecedented act of heroism to even get a nod of appreciation.
A personalised custom coffee mug won’t cost very much, but it will be worth much more than you paid for it to your employee. A coffee mug given out as a reward becomes a priceless symbol of a positive achievement. They are a highly effective and memorable way of saying “thank you” to those who have gone above and beyond the norm to assure your success.
You could give an employee a cash award of ten times as much as you pay for one custom mug and it would be gone in a few weeks if not a few hours. They would remember it on occasion but it wouldn’t be at the front of their consciousness very often. On the other hand, they will use their custom mug every day. Every time they drink coffee or tea, they will look at their custom mug and remember that you gave it to them for being such a great worker.
Think about it: every day, your employee becomes inspired and you didn’t have to do a thing or say a word after giving them the mug as an award once. When you combine the practical with the meaningful, great things can happen.
Not only will a custom mug inspire the employee who receives it, but it sets a benchmark for other employees. They see the mug and know that if they work hard enough, their efforts will be appreciated. Even though the cash or extrinsic value is small, the intrinsic value of the award is far greater and you reap the rewards every day.
How to Get Started
Call us at ImagePak Marketing. We can give you suggestions and tell you what others have done in the past. We can also help you design a great looking cup for your company. You may even want to use two or more different levels of mug: one with the company name and logo, and one level for awards. The most important thing is to start rewarding employees for their hard work.
Call today to get started: (08) 92444 111.