53. As CEO, I took calls. We were in the same building as the customer service team. Marlene, my assistant, would give me a list of twenty-five people every week. I would call them out of the blue. I’d ask them about their favorite product. How they spent their day. If they had any advice for me. We would just talk.
Sometimes I would ask one of our representatives if I could jump onto their call. Sometimes I would go onto the company Facebook page and give my email address and ask for phone numbers. Sometimes I would even give out my cell phone number (not recommended).
Make making calls a habit, and it soon becomes natural. Like dancing in the hallway between meetings. And if you are thinking you won’t hear the truth, you are wrong. I learned way more from giving my number to customers—even the haters we had on social media—than I ever did from any focus groups. Just be normal, and don’t force it.
This may seem like a great idea when the company is small and like a distraction when the company grows up. It’s not. Don’t forget your phone is a phone. Hop on it. Talking to customers is never a distraction. Make time.