Job security and that of your company depends on how valuable your company is to your customers. The better you serve them, the better you protect your business.

Know Your Customer
The importance of knowing precisely who your customers are cannot be overstated. You need an in-depth feel for your targeted market. What do your customers do, and how do you fit into the picture? What are their needs? What does it take to please them? How can you contribute to their success?

Sharpen Your Insights
Get to know your personal "marketplace," and you'll see exactly what you should do to make your business indispensable.
Keep in mind that there are both internal and external customers. You may deal directly with each type, but let's focus for a moment on whom you're supposed to serve inside the organization. It may be some other department, several people in your own functional area, or just your direct peers. Maybe you've always thought of them as coworkers, or as people you work with rather than for. But make no mistake -- these are your clients and customers. Management will too often not stop and think about the full implications of this. We more or less take our jobs for granted, we're in charge, period... and that can be a risky way to run your company. As a manager it's your responsibility to know how well your company is functioning?

You're In This Together!
Unless you take pains to provide the best possible service to both both internal and external customers, and do so in a pro-active way, you'll find it hard to keep customers. They'll replace you with a better service provider. In essence, somebody else will "steal your business." The more you allow your service to go soft, the greater the odds you could end up with some downsizing decisions to make. Question is, who will provide the best service to your customer, you or somebody else?

In the final analysis, customers are your only source of job security.