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Gather Accurate Business Information
All decisions you take in business are faced with basic uncertainty, effective managers approach problems by interlocking probabilities. Your primary goal should be to gather accurate business information and scrutinize it carefully.
The former US Treasury Secretary and Goldman Sachs executive Robert E. Rubin wrote in his memoirs "Once you've internalised the concept that you can't prove anything in absolute terms, life becomes all the more about odds, chances, and trade-offs. In a world without provable truths, the only way to refine the probabilities that remain is through greater knowledge and understanding".
Talking to your customer... is gathering accurate business information directly from the source that is feeding your shareholders.
Since my last post, 4 Rules About Customers, I have been engaged in different e-mail discussions. One e-mail correspondent has been Bruce Judson, author of "Go It Alone" (HarperCollins, 2004), an award winning book for entrepreneurs and has now founded a new service for growing businesses and nonprofits called Free For Today.
Bruce's Comment: Add a rule # 5 - Make your customers feel smart
In my 1st rule, I discussed the need to always (no matter the size of your company) talk directly to your customers. Bruce wants to add a "Rule # 5 - Make your customers feel smart". Agree with you Bruce.... everyone likes to feel smart 
. But in order to understand what will make your customers feel smart, you must know them. Thus, for us to deliver on rule #5 - Make your customers feel smart, we must talk to our customers.
So, if there are any shareholder-friendly business people still thinking customer service does not need significant amount of attention - here is a final remark - leave this chat and go call a customer!
4 Rules About Customers - Increase Growth & Earnings
1: Your greatest joy is experienced when speaking to the customers.Rule # 2: Never listen to your organisation - listen to your customers
Concerns about ongoing business operations and recommendations for product development that arise from within an organization, is a poor estimator of your customers actual problems or concerns. That's why you should take sales meetings with existing and potential customers every week, and do this on your own... you will learn more. In addition, if you decide to outsource your customer service you should continue to take customer service calls every week. Ideas from within your company, that often generate little customer value, will thereby have a harder time passing through the gates of your management team.
Rule # 3: Understand to 100% why your customers purchase your product/service
Understanding what value / uniqueness your product bring to the market should be obvious for all employees of a company, but it's not..... Spending time listening to your customers will generate better decisions, within areas such as marketing and product development. At a Wimbledon tournament, the former CEO of Rolex, Andre Heiniger, got a question from a friend - “How is the watch business doing?" Mr Heiniger's response was -"I do not know - Rolex is not in the watch business we are in the luxury business”. This is understanding your customers and your products! Mark McCormack, author of "What they don't teach you at Harvard Business School", calls this insight - "Marketability" - understanding your products / services uniqueness and position.
Rule # 4: Delight the customer as much as the consumer
Make sure you not only reach out to the customer purchasing your product, but spend time talking to the actual consumer of it. A customer purchase your product or service, while the consumer makes use of it - You mission is to make both of them love you! To many companies spend way to much time focusing on sales, sales & sales (this is great for anyone who learns to benefit from this fact). Sure, focusing on sales is a must, but focusing on the consumers is a prerequisite for continues success and growth of your company. A company that is very focused on this, and that vividly spreads this mindset to it's employees, is Procter & Gamble. Your relationship with customers is initiated by the consumer but prolonged only by the contented customer.