Concept of identifying customer needs: understanding and influencing customer behavior through ongoing communication strategies in an effort to acquire, retain, and satisfy the customer. The ultimate goal is customer loyalty. Those people outside the organization who purchase or lease products and services. This group includes vendors, suppliers, people on the telephone or Internet, and others not from the organization. Term adopted in the early days of customer service when many people started small businesses in their homes and bartered products or services with neighbors. A term used to describe businesses that are engaged primarily in service delivery. People within the organization who either require support and service or provide information, products, and services to service providers who interact with external customers. Such customers include peers, coworkers, bosses, subordinates, and people from other areas of the organization. The ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business. Something produced or an output by an individual or organization. A term used to describe the trend in which businesses have shifted from primarily production and manufacturing to more service delivery. As part of this evolution, many organizations have developed specifically to provide services to customers. A company that spends energy and effort on satisfying internal and external customers by first identifying customer needs, and then establishing policies, procedures, and management and reward systems to support excellence in service delivery.