Organizations have many missions.  Among them is a paramount focus on pleasing the customer.  They measure satisfaction with surveys, pride themselves that they have great communication with customers and even ask for testimonials to show how happy their customers really are.  But, I think that for some operations folks (you know the ones that get involved in the nuts and bolts to help make organizations run), the customer can sometimes seem once removed and sometimes even more distant.  They may feel left out.  However nothing could be farther from the truth. 


Look at it this way.  For operations staff, your customer “is” your colleague, like the H.R. manager, or the admin down the hall and all of the individuals in your organization who need support each day. The service you provide contributes significantly to a successful organization.  It helps build confidence in the organization and promotes a “can-do” attitude.  The servicing of the “Internal customer” is just as important as the external ones because it extends itself outside the organization.  It helps make organizations run smoothly and contributes to revenue.  The rules for servicing internal customers should be no different than our external ones.  Treat everyone with respect, listen to the issue, ask questions that help bring clarity to a situation, get the right people involved, and always - always communicate the status of what action is being taken. You then need to follow up to insure the action taken, achieved the desired results.
The care by which you show your internal customer how important you view them will help build a better organization and set the example for treatment of your external customers. 


I’m always happy to say to my colleague’s “You’re my internal customer”. It tells them how important they are.  Let your professionalism shine through. Your customers - all of them, will be very pleased.