Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It's Only Common Sense: CEOs, Get Out of the Office

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For the written transcript, keep reading...If you're the head of the company--CEO, president, owner, whatever--get out of the office and go visit your customers. There's no better way to spend your time.

The world has changed and we now live in a very impersonal business climate where e-mails and social media have created all sorts of electronic barriers to doing face-to-face business. It's now our challenge to find unique ways to personalize business relationships, and having the top guy in the company visit customers is one of the most effective ways to do this.

By going out and spending time with customers you can cut through barriers and have a one-on-one conversation with those you're doing business with. If it is a new customer, then all the better for you to get to know each other. On the other hand, if it’s a long-time customer, it's a great opportunity to visit an old friend.

A number of other benefits come from getting out there in front of customers:

• It will help your salesperson, who is likely finding it more difficult to make live appointments, if she can say the president of the company would like to visit. It creates an event, a special occasion, and I guarantee that she will be able to make that appointment.
• It will raise the level of the meeting. Chances are you will get to meet not only the buyer, but also her boss. If the company is not too big, you may even meet owner of the company as well.
• You will learn more first-hand information about your customer. It will give you a chance to ask questions and find out for yourself how your customer is doing. You will also learn important information about how your company is doing as a vendor. It’s a wonderful time to find out if the customer is happy with your products and services and learn what you can do to make your firm more valuable to your customer.
• It is also a great time for you to talk about your company, telling your customers how you’re doing and what your future looks like. This is a great opportunity to update your customers on new technology, new equipment, or the new people you've hired. This is your chance to sell your company to your customers, face-to-face, the old-fashioned way.
• It is a great opportunity to develop a stronger bond with your customer. No matter what the Internet has done for business relationships, business is still (and will always be) personal. In the end it's still all about people, and if you are willing to extend yourself a bit, you can re-establish that very important personal connection.
• You will form a much stronger bond with the customer and its management, which is sure to want to meet you when you decide to visit. It will even help their buyer who will want to introduce you to her management. Customers love feeling that they have a connection at the top levels of the companies with whom they do business. To them, this is "money in the bank" for any future issues, problems, and special favors they might need. Your customer’s management team will feel much better knowing they have a relationship with you, the top gun. They'll take comfort in knowing that if they need anything out of the ordinary, they can always give you a call directly.
• And that door swings both ways--this is a great way for you to cultivate relationships with those company leaders as well. Once you meet these folks you will be able to call them once in a while just to see how you’re doing and ask them if there's anything else you can do for them.
• The fact that you will get to know your customers better is a great benefit. As the CEO, you must know who your customers are and what they do. The better you know your customers, the more effective you can be as a leader.
• You’ll also get the chance to know your own salespeople better. There is no better way to learn more about your salepeople than  by spending "windshield time" with them. This will give you a chance to observe firsthand how they're doing, how they treat the customer, and what the customer thinks of them. This will provide valuable insight into how professional and effective your sales team is.

By knowing more about your customers, you'll be able to relay important information about those customers to your management team. You'll be able to give them the feedback you received during the meeting and give them insight into how your company can better serve customers.

I know that you are a very busy person and you can’t be out in front of customers all the time. I simply recommend that you visit with customers at least once a year. And it doesn’t have to be all of them, just those you do a lot of business with, those who have great potential, or those you've worked with the longest. It's up to you. Or, better yet, ask you salespeople to recommend which customers to visit.

A personal visit will be the most important use of your time. It’s only common sense.