Recently I was asked, what’s the #1 way for any company to improve their customer service? Here’s my take: Think beyond service.

Interaction by interaction, your customer-facing services provide immediate visibility on the effectiveness of the organization’s products, services and processes. When captured and shared, this intelligence can boost R&D and help every part of the organization improve.

Simple example: a company new to this principle discovered that 11% of customer contacts on a niche cleaning product was due to the child-proof cap that was hard to remove, often sheering off the spray nozzle; their packaging supplier reengineered the cap, eliminating the contacts and, more importantly, improving the product.

Higher-end examples include everything from redesigned marketing to new product categories based on what was learned through service delivery. Think beyond service… that’s the ticket to an even bigger impact.