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Do you remember the times you were at a crossroads, debating with yourself about a choice that challenged your personal values and your business objectives? You’re not alone. Most entrepreneurs experience this kind of strife, but not every entrepreneur will verbalize all of the conflicts.

It is a sophisticated battleground with the lines between correct and wrong so fuzzy, and the choices you make can shape your history. In this article, I’ll share a few valuable tips you can use to navigate these situations.

Related: How to Become the Leader You Envision Without Sacrificing Your Values

1. Establish your core values

Determining your core values is a prerequisite in facing ethical obstacles. As a leader, values like integrity, transparency and sustainability can be your guiding principles, which you set not only for yourself but also for your company. When these values are clear and communicated correctly, they become a beacon, helping decision-making processes to be simpler and well-managed. The unambiguousness of those values serves as a yardstick to which all company actions are compared, and thus, everybody in the organization knows what is expected of them.

2. Understand the baggage right away

One of the most important skills for any leader is to be able to tell when his/her personal beliefs are at odds with business decisions. A lot of times, the first indication of an ethical challenge is a feeling of discomfort. This unease is not just a matter of emotion; it is a sign of your conscience, which is telling you that your values are being compromised. Acknowledging it early on is a must for you because it gives you the time to analyze the situation carefully, and you won’t make any rash decisions. It gives you an opportunity to form a strategy that is in line with your moral values.

3. Seek multiple perspectives

Ethical problems frequently do not yield simple responses, and what looks right one way around may not appear to be so from another point of view. Therefore, seeking several points of view is necessary. Connect with mentors, friends or any group with different perceptions to have more diverse opinions. Such a process can disclose new insights and may even bring in solutions that you would have never thought of. Another key advantage is that it makes sure the decision-making process is not only based on one set of experiences and backgrounds, which helps prevent the risk of bias.

4. Evaluate long-term impact

It may be tempting for a moment, but these shortcuts have long-term effects. When faced with a decision, it’s important to ask yourself about the long-term impacts: What is the consequence of this choice on my business in the next five, ten and twenty years? Would it hurt my reputation or my relationship with other people? Such aspects are crucial because they facilitate the drive toward sustainable growth and the observance of ethical standards, which are usually the pillars of longevity.

5. Create ethical safeguards

To avoid ethical conflicts and have your decisions a posteriori, that is, consistent with your business ethics, put in place robust ethical safeguards in your business operations. This could be a part of the process of creating an ethics committee or establishing a decision framework that focuses on your core values. This way, ethical principles are practically accessible to everyone through the organization’s hierarchy, and every decision is subjected to ethical scrutiny.

Related: Holding True to Your Values Is an Essential Decision-Making Metric

6. Be honest and open with your team

Transparency forms the basis for the establishment and strengthening of trust among team members. When an ethical crisis emerges, admitting the difficulties and how they might affect both personal and business values establishes a precedent of transparency and openness. Such honesty and openness will become a criterion for your enterprise culture. This is not just about trust building but also helping to develop a more engaged and ethically aware employee.

7. Integrate ethics into your brand

Nowadays, consumers are more and more inclined to buy from companies that have a code of ethics. Incorporating ethics into your brand’s storyline will make your business stand out and increase consumer confidence. This synergy builds a deeper connection with the audience because they believe that they are interacting with a brand that reflects their virtues.

8. Get ready to make tough decisions

Balancing personal ethics with business decisions sometimes demands making tough decisions. This might imply declining attractive chances or dissolving cooperation with efficient associates. These decisions are always hard, but they usually have to be done to preserve one’s integrity. The respect and loyalty gained from customers and employees in making these decisions can often far exceed the costs involved.

9. Consider and memorize every decision

Every decision is a learning experience. Analyzing the effectiveness of your choices — what worked, what didn’t and how you can improve — contributes to enhanced decision-making skills. Such a learning process is of utmost importance for more successful and confident dealings with future ethical issues.

10. Lead by example

Leadership is more about walking the talk than giving orders. Through constant decision-making that supports your ethical principles, you become an effective role model for your team. This leadership style not only cultivates an ethical positive climate but also inspires your team to uphold these standards in their own decision-making.

Related: Here’s Why Values Matter So Much in Business

It is not easy to navigate the dangerous waters where personal values and business decisions come together. Nonetheless, when you remain true to your core values, look for different opinions and consider making tough decisions, you can be assured that your business not only prospers but also contributes positively to the world around you.

Do not forget that the purpose of your business is not only to be successful but also to create a business that will speak for your values. This approach does not merely resolve clashes; it turns them into opportunities for growth. Rely on your ethics, and you will build a better business world with more ethical and prosperous firms.

Global expansion is a huge move for your business that can complicate matters when you want to increase the size of your team. Hiring qualified employees from abroad can be complicated. Many things have to be considered, including new rules or regulations in different countries that need to be followed and cultural differences that may also arise.

In the ever-changing global business environment, the use of appropriate technologies and strategies can set apart successful firms from average or struggling ones.

In light of this, how do you then put together an amazing global team? Through my own experience, I’ve discovered 5 key strategies that can set you and your team up for success.

1. Support workplace diversity and Inclusivity

If you establish an inclusive and efficient system culture across your globally expanding enterprise, then performance will increase immediately. However, one should also bear in mind that cultural disparities exist among team members from diverse backgrounds. You will need to create a workplace that respects and recognizes each person’s culture while also fostering an understanding of various traditions and opinions.

There’s a need for companies to consider various holidays people celebrate in different countries so as not to be seen as ignorant or insensitive by their own employees who come from other places. Common concerns revolve around non-verbal communication like gestures at work, dress codes in offices and how we relate with one another socially . One way out is by employing experts who specialize in diversity issues across cultures, such as customs or traditions, to ensure a safe and respectful work culture.

Related: Life’s Too Short to Work With Incompatible People — Follow These 3 Secrets To Building High-Performing Teams

2. Leverage EOR Service

If you are expanding your business globally, it may really help to hire an Employment of Record (EOR) service provider. An Employment of Record legally employs your team members in their local country on your behalf. It enables you to access the best skills from anywhere around the world without necessarily having to go through the lengthy procedure of first establishing foreign legal entities yourself.

When you partner with a good EOR, you get a bunch of sweet benefits:

• Faster access to global talent: You can start building your team abroad as soon as possible instead of waiting months for all the legal paperwork to go through.
• Less worry about compliance: EORs take care of handling all those local employment laws and HR requirements that give you headaches.
• Cost savings: EORs have the expertise to help minimize your operational costs when hiring globally.
• Flexibility: You can easily scale your global team up or down as your business needs change.
• Specialized expertise: EORs have tons of experience helping companies expand globally the right way.

Lean on EOR specialists so you can focus less on annoying HR logistics and more on finding superstar talent around the world.

3. Invest in management training

To succeed globally, you need awesome managers across the board. That’s why strategy number three is to invest heavily in management training.

Make sure your managers are pros at leading global teams. A quality manager in a distributed team excels at nurturing career growth, making the most of their unique talents, ensuring smooth conflict resolution, and guiding through change and uncertainty. They build adaptability and psychological safety, encouraging open communication.

Additionally, the ability to encourage and inspire individuals as a manager will create an environment in which every team member feels welcomed and encouraged. Each one’s unique strengths can be recognized and leveraged for the success and cohesion of the team.

In fact, managers account for 70% of the variability in team engagement. Well-trained managers unite your global workforce and amplify your culture anywhere.

4. Focus on building trust

When your team is distributed worldwide, success depends a ton on trusting relationships. That’s why strategy number four is to focus on building trust and connections, even from afar.

Building trust in a global team requires participation in a variety of activities that promote bonding and camaraderie. Icebreaker games during meetings and setting up Slack channels for casual talk all help team members bond. Hosting virtual coffee talks or happy hours provides for socialization outside of work, whereas annual in-person offsite gatherings provide valuable face-to-face interactions.

Furthermore, it is critical to tailor communication techniques to each direct report, publicly acknowledge wins and progress, and listen deeply to understand different perspectives. These actions make team members feel appreciated, heard, and connected, ultimately building trust within the team.

When managers invest in relationships, their teams perform better. Trust accelerates team cohesion, collaboration and results.

Related: 10 Simple Steps to Build an Exceptional and Efficient Team

5. Set up clear communication channels

When organizing a clear communication protocol, time zone differences could become a major, even impactful, issue. Face-to-face meetings between team members may be nearly impossible when they work from different areas of the world. That’s where video conferences can ensure fast and efficient dialogue.

A number of video conferencing tools recently achieved global use as remote work grew in popularity. Tools like Zoom and Google Meet help businesses hold on-the-spot presentations, webinars, and team meetings with accurate, real-time visuals. They also give team managers the ability to arrange one-on-one check-in sessions with employees, allowing them to discuss workload and other relevant concerns.

Expanding your business globally does not always mean success. However, you can achieve this goal through careful planning, effective communication, and an all-inclusive corporate culture. Above all, using local collaborators in the form of an Employer of Record exponentially increases the chances of building a winning team.

Three groundbreaking Apple devices — the iPhone X, HomePod, and original AirPods — are now considered vintage. And the clock is ticking on how long they will be eligible for repairs.

Apple added the three to its vintage product list on Monday, meaning that it stopped selling the products more than five, and less than seven, years ago.

Apple customers who use these devices are now facing a limited window when it comes to repairs. Apple Stores and authorized repair shops will only offer service for the iPhone X, HomePod, and original AirPods for up to two more years max, depending on the parts available.

Related: Will Apple AI Convince You to Upgrade Your Old iPhone?

The three products are all instantly recognizable as a major shift or addition to Apple’s product lineup.

The $999 iPhone X was the first Apple phone to switch from TouchID to FaceID, allowing users to unlock the iPhone X with a glance and swapping out a home button for an entirely touch-activated screen. Apple assured customers that it kept its facial scans out of the cloud to make the feature more secure.

Apple now has the majority of smartphone market share in the U.S., with about 53% of the market.

^{Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the launch of the iPhone X on September 17, 2017. (Photo by Qi Heng/Visual China Group via Getty Images)}

The $349 HomePod was Apple’s first smart speaker; some users have called it a “significant and risky investment.” Apple sold an estimated three million HomePods in the U.S. by 2018, according to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report.

Since the original HomePod’s release, Apple has expanded the product line with the 2020 HomePod mini and the 2023 HomePod 2nd Generation.

Related: What’s Next for Apple After Vision Pro? Home Robots: Report

The $159 original AirPods were Apple’s way of “reinventing” wireless headphones, per the company’s 2016 press release.

Apple introduced an “innovative” charging case and a double-tap feature that allowed users to tap their AirPods to access Siri.

Devices on the vintage list end up in Apple’s “obsolete” category after they pass the seven-year mark. At that point, Apple withdraws hardware service and service stores can no longer order replacement parts.

Related: Apple iPhone 7 Settlement: How to Make a Claim By Deadline

With new social platforms emerging every year, many entrepreneurs wonder if they should leave email behind and look ahead to new avenues. Did you know that email is still the second biggest marketing channel for startups, right behind social media? That’s right! It’s all thanks to its low cost and incredible return on investment (ROI). According to the study by Litmus, it remains one of the best ROIs out there; companies can expect to make a whopping $38 in return for every dollar they spend on email marketing.

As the CEO of Builderall, an all-in-one digital marketing platform that has supported over 2,000,000 small businesses, I often get asked if email marketing is still an effective strategy in this new phase of our digital age. Is it dead in 2024?

I’m here to debunk the biggest myths and set the record straight. Today, I’ll share my insider knowledge to help you see the light.

Defining email marketing

Before we debunk these myths, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what email marketing actually is. Many people have misconceptions about this form of digital marketing, which can turn them off — and that leads to missed opportunities.

Email marketing is a direct marketing strategy that sends promotional or informational messages to a targeted audience via email. It goes far beyond blasting promotions or cold outreach. Done right, it builds meaningful relationships between your brand and subscribers. It’s a way to keep them engaged, and ultimately, it’s another way to drive sales.

Some examples include

• Newsletters
• Promotional offers
• Product updates
• Even personalized content based on a subscriber’s interests.

Related: 8 Simple Email Marketing Tips to Improve Your Open and Click-Through Rates

Myth #1: Email marketing is dead

Let’s tackle the elephant in the room first. No — email is not dead! In fact, it’s far from it and still going strong.

According to data provided by Oberlo, 80% of businesses rely on email as their primary customer retention channel. That means they’re using email to keep their existing customers engaged and coming back for more.

But that’s not all. HubSpot found that 60% of consumers made a purchase thanks to a marketing email they received. That’s a huge testament to the power of email marketing in driving revenue for businesses.

Myth #2: People don’t read emails

I can’t tell you how often I hear this myth. Sure, our inboxes have gotten pretty crowded over the years, and many of us receive dozens or even hundreds of emails daily. It’s also true that a good chunk of those emails might get sent straight to the trash or spam folder.

However, according to HubSpot, 46% of smartphone users still prefer to hear from brands via email over other channels.

If you establish trust and send relevant content, subscribers will welcome your emails with open arms.

This stat also highlights the importance of putting care in your campaigns by using compelling subject lines and other email elements to stand out in a crowded inbox.

Myth #3: Younger audiences don’t use email

Gen Z and millennials are the next generation that will have some serious purchasing power. It’s only logical for businesses to look for new and innovative ways to approach them, as they’re often portrayed as being glued to their screens and obsessed with social media platforms.

These stereotypes lead many people to assume Gen Z and millennials are too obsessed with TikTok and Instagram for old-school strategies like email. Let me prove them wrong again. According to the Attest U.S. Consumer Trend Report, 53% of Gen-Z enjoy weekly emails from their favorite brands. For millennials, it’s 66%.

Of course, you’ll want to cater your approach to each audience (throw in some slang or a meme here and there,) but don’t count email out. These generation segments still use and prefer it.

Myth #4: Email has low open rates

The next myth I wanted to touch on is more tangible. Some say email performs poorly compared to social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. For that, we’ll have to look at the open rate.

Open rate is an essential key performance indicator (KPI) in digital marketing because it tells you how many people are actually opening and reading your emails. MailChimp benchmarks tell us the average email open rate across all industries is 34.23%. While that might not sound amazing, it’s definitely not bad either.

With optimization, that number can grow much higher and bring benefits. As reported earlier, that’s why so many businesses still rely on email as their primary customer retention channel.

Related: This One Thing Is the Secret to Higher Email Open Rates

Myth #5: Email marketing equals spam

Finally, allow me to go full circle and return to the definition of email marketing. Too many people confuse general email marketing with a somewhat shady practice: cold outreach.

Cold emails are unsolicited messages sent to people who have not expressed interest in your brand or products. You essentially buy or scrape a list of email addresses (unbeknownst to the recipients) and blast bulk emails, hoping to catch a few leads. They’re often used for prospecting and can come across as intrusive if not done right. That’s because nobody gave you permission to contact them.

On the other hand, email marketing is about building relationships with people who have already shown interest in what you offer. They might have signed up for your newsletter through a lead magnet or opted in to receive your updates. That’s a big difference!

It is this latter form of communication that 81% of businesses use email as their primary customer acquisition channel. It drives results without spam tactics.

Final thoughts

While many entrepreneurs may feel attracted to the latest shiny object or technology, these myths cause many entrepreneurs to overlook email in 2024.

When executed correctly, email marketing remains an indispensable growth lever for startups and established businesses alike. Now that you know the truth, utilize email marketing to boost conversions and retention. With a strategic approach, you may see even higher open rates and ROI than the studies show.

Users spend an average of 5.59 seconds looking at a website’s written content. I don’t know about you, but it seems like there is hardly enough time to gain users’ interest, let alone relay the information you want to share — and the information they want to find.

However, following best practices, there is no reason to bombard users with an avalanche of information when they land on your homepage. While there may be a lot of great information about your business, putting it in their faces when they arrive can have the inverse effect, making users feel overwhelmed and pushing them to leave the site.

So, what is the alternative? Thoughtfully crafted messages and content aligned with the customer journey and revealed through a slow, strategic drip known as progressive disclosure.

Related: Your Online Customer Experience Is More Than a Buzzword — It’s the Backbone of Your Business. Here’s How to Optimize It.

But what is progressive disclosure?

Progressive disclosure is about strategically revealing the information a user wants or needs at the precise moment the customer wants or needs it (rather than throwing it at them upfront). This is essentially a strategic approach to planning and releasing content throughout the customer journey to maximize engagement and move a customer through the conversion funnel.

Here’s an example: If you have a product-heavy website, the navigation should direct the user through a seamless navigation. If the navigation is designed strategically to align with the customer journey, then each click is a point on the path of progressive disclosure. As users move around the site, they will slowly but surely learn more about the products and services and find the information they need. This is precisely why websites use a thoughtful navigation system based on logic and integrated into the information architecture that outlines the content and where it should be placed within the site.

Why is progressive disclosure powerful?

The simple answer is that this process is customer-centric. It focuses on what customers want to accomplish rather than what you, the business owner, want to share.

In addition, progressive disclosure accomplishes the following:

• Reduces friction: Information overload leads to confusion and decision paralysis. By presenting information relevant to the user’s immediate needs, you remove unnecessary hurdles and guide them seamlessly toward their goals.
• Boosts engagement: Curiosity thrives when there is something more to discover. As users uncover new features and functionalities, their interest remains piqued, encouraging further exploration and deeper product engagement.
• Builds trust: When users feel they’re being led, not overwhelmed, trust flourishes. Progressive disclosure shows respect for their time and attention, fostering a positive relationship between them and your product.

Related: 7 Ecommerce Customer Experience Strategies for Effective Branding in 2024

Want to rework your website so it’s aligned with your customers?

If you want to rework your website or consider how your content is aligned with your customers, here are a few considerations that will help ensure you are applying progressive disclosure principles:

• Map the customer journey. Understand the different stages users go through, from awareness to consideration, purchase and beyond. Identify their needs and pain points at each stage.
• Prioritize information. Categorize features and information based on their importance and relevance to each stage of the journey. Highlight core functionalities initially and unveil advanced features later.
• Use microlearning. Chunk information into digestible pieces, delivered through tutorials, tooltips, and interactive prompts. This makes learning effortless and avoids cognitive overload.
• Leverage visual cues. Employ clear design elements like hierarchy, icons, and animation to guide users’ attention and highlight key information.
• Gather feedback. Continuously analyze user behaviors on your site and collect feedback to understand what resonates. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and implement valuable changes.
• Use multiple touchpoints to communicate. While this strategy can be applied to a website, it applies to all digital communication channels. Most who visit your website either have a specific reason or are fact-finding. So consider using other digital channels, such as SMS and digital cards, to communicate more important (or urgent) messages in real-time.

Applying progressive disclosure isn’t just about withholding information; it’s about crafting a captivating narrative that unfolds as the user interacts with your brand. Applying this approach can foster trust, increase engagement, and ultimately create satisfied customers.

Remember, we’re not just selling products or services; we’re guiding users on a journey, and every step along the way matters. By unveiling the right information at the right time, we transform their experience from overwhelming to empowering, paving the way for sustainable success.

Dive into Swae Lee’s remarkable journey, from clocking in at Mcdonald’s to hitting the heights of the music industry. In this conversation, Swae Lee spills the secrets of his winning mindset, unwavering dedication and the vital role of genuine relationships.

More Episodes: Win Big with Clinton Sparks

Here’s a breakdown of all the things we discuss in the podcast:

The Global Impact of Entrepreneurship:

• Entrepreneurship knows no geographical boundaries. Entrepreneurs around the world are creating solutions to global challenges and contributing to a more interconnected world.

Swae Lee’s Early Aspirations:

• Swae Lee’s early aspirations were rooted in music, driven by a passion for creating and performing.
• He dreamt of making a name for himself in the music industry from a young age.
• Swae Lee’s aspirations laid the foundation for his successful music career.
• His early dreams and goals ultimately shaped his journey to stardom.
• These aspirations motivated him to work tirelessly to achieve his musical ambitions.

Hard Work and Persistence:

• Hard work and persistence have been Swae Lee’s guiding principles throughout his career.
• He firmly believes in the value of consistent effort and determination.
• Swae Lee’s success is a testament to his unwavering dedication to his craft.
• The music industry demands hard work and persistence to overcome challenges.

Overcoming Challenges for Success:

• Swae Lee has faced numerous challenges on his path to success in the music industry.
• Overcoming these challenges has made him a stronger and more resilient artist.
• Each obstacle he encountered became an opportunity for growth and improvement.
• Swae Lee’s ability to overcome challenges has contributed to his rise in the industry.
• He views challenges as stepping stones toward achieving greater success.

Networking in the Music Industry:

• Networking plays a crucial role in Swae Lee’s journey in the music industry.
• Building connections with other artists and industry professionals has been key to his success.
• Effective networking has opened doors to collaborations and opportunities.
• Swae Lee recognizes the importance of cultivating relationships to advance his career.
• In the music industry, networking is more than a skill—it’s a strategic advantage.

Navigating Relationships in the Music Industry:

• Navigating relationships in the music industry can be complex due to its competitive nature.
• Swae Lee has learned to balance personal and professional relationships to maintain success.
• Building trust and managing relationships with colleagues is essential in the industry.
• Nurturing positive connections has contributed to his career’s longevity.
• Successfully navigating relationships has allowed him to thrive in the music world.

Walgreens is the latest chain to face mass closures.

On Thursday, Walgreens announced that it would be closing a “significant” number of underperforming stores across the country.

“The current pharmacy model is not sustainable,” CEO Tim Wentworth told investors on an earnings call. “Changes are imminent.”

Related: Walgreens’ Battle Over High-Tech Cooler Doors Heats Up

Wentworth said that it would “take a hard look” at 25% of its stores over the next three years with the potential for closure, which means that 2,150 stores could be up for shutting down.

Walgreens currently operates 8,600 stores.

“The consumer is absolutely stunned by the absolute prices of things, and the fact that some of them may not be inflating doesn’t actually change their resistance to the current pricing,” Wentworth told investors. “So we’ve had to get really keen, particularly in discretionary things.”

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock plummeted over 24% in a 24-hour period upon the release of its fiscal Q3 2024 earnings, which reported $36.4 billion in revenue.

The company revealed that it was hit with a $2.7 billion bill by the IRS after the agency conducted audits and reportedly found issues with Walgreens’ transfer pricing between 2014 and 2017.

Related: Walgreens Unveils New CEO, $1 Billion Cost-Cutting Plan

“The Company intends to vigorously defend its position on the transfer pricing matter through the IRS’s administrative appeals office and, if necessary, judicial proceedings and is confident in its ability to prevail on the merits,” Walgreens said via the filing at the time.

As of Thursday afternoon, Walgreens Boots Alliance was down nearly 59% year over year.

AT&T wants the seven biggest and most profitable tech companies, namely Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, to help subsidize Internet and telephone access in the U.S.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said on Monday at a telecoms forum that big tech companies should be required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF), a federal program that spends $8 billion a year on phone, Internet, and other telecommunications services.

The fund supports lower-income customers, customers who live in rural areas, or those who reside in high-cost areas. It also brings internet and phone service to eligible schools and libraries.

“The seven largest and most profitable companies in the world built their franchises on the internet and the infrastructure we provide,” Stankey said, per a Reuters report.

“Why shouldn’t they participate in ensuring affordable and equitable access to the services of today that are just as indispensable as the phone lines of yesteryear?” he added.

^{John Stankey, AT&T CEO. Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images}

As a telecommunications company operating in the U.S., AT&T is required to contribute to the USF.

The fund takes a percentage of AT&T’s revenues, starting at 15.5%.

AT&T charges its customers a Universal Connectivity Charge based on the USF percentage — so at the end of the day, AT&T’s customers pay an additional cost that goes towards the fund.

“In the competitive industry we are in, we cannot afford to absorb the costs associated with the USF that have been imposed on AT&T,” a company webpage reads.

Related: AT&T CEO Reveals Cause of Mass Outage, Offers Account Credit

Stankey isn’t the only AT&T executive to recently call attention to the USF fee. Earlier this month, AT&T executive vice president of federal regulatory relations Rhonda Johnson wrote that the company’s USF contribution percentage was now 34.4% — and had remained at above 30% for the past four quarters.

Johnson wrote that Congress should expand the USF’s sources of funding to “tech companies – like Meta and Google – that utilize consumer broadband connections.”

These big tech companies have profited from having Americans online and should also contribute to a reformed fund, according to Johnson.

Related: AT&T Customer Data Leaked to ‘Dark Web,’ Millions Affected

There are few guarantees in business, but this one is certain: If you don’t keep customers, you won’t have a business for long. Yet, at a time when most companies are desperately trying to maintain customer loyalty (retention is more profitable than acquisition, after all), there’s often a missing link in their efforts: Understanding the powerful connection between customer satisfaction and employee engagement — and how to unlock it.

As a Chief People Officer currently overseeing my company’s customer organization, I’ve seen first-hand how connected they truly are. At its most basic, losing customers can have a direct impact on employee morale and even lead to regrettable talent turnover. But there’s more nuance to this connection: nearly everything employees do has the potential to deeply impact customers. In turn, customer feedback and outcomes can have a powerful effect on an employee’s sense of purpose, achievement and satisfaction.

Related: 7 Surefire Ways to Turn Your Low Customer Retention Rates Around

I’ve witnessed how establishing a customer-centric approach across the entire organization can lead to growth opportunities that benefit both employees and customers. But to get there, businesses need to leverage that connection by making customer success the forefront of every employee’s experience. Here’s how.

Make customer success everyone’s responsibility

Most companies take a siloed approach to customer success, relegating it to a single department, while others remain largely insulated from customer interaction. But I’ve come to realize that the more we empower all of our cross-functional teams to contribute to customer success, the more purposeful, impactful and engaging their roles become, and the more they can drive customer loyalty and retention.

For a more holistic approach, I am a fan of the bowtie model. In contrast to the traditional marketing funnel, which ends when a customer converts, the bowtie provides a more end-to-end representation of the customer journey. It’s a better way to ensure everyone in the company is maximizing engagement with the customer over the long term — whether through strategic ongoing communication and marketing efforts or more integrated processes and practices designed to deepen this relationship.

One way we do this at my company is by encouraging every department to evaluate every task — and every ask — from the perspective of how it benefits the customer. Whether it’s marketing, sales, product or engineering, this filter is applied to all decision-making. Of course, we also look to metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score, customer retention, and revenue expansion with existing customers to ensure our efforts translate into results.

Supercharge customer touchpoints

I recently traveled overseas to meet with a customer, and as I was leaving, their CFO turned to me and said something I’ll never forget: “Don’t get me fired.” It’s a powerful reminder that our view on customer success must be broader than just ensuring product integration or stability. Everything we do has a ripple effect on their company’s success, which can impact their personal reputation, too.

The concept of radical empathy isn’t new in customer service. Cultivating a deeper understanding of customer needs is crucial for effective product development, marketing and sales, but it can easily get lost once a customer is onboarded. Building more proactive touchpoints with customers —and even baking them into the early stages of product development — can help overcome this oversight.

For us, that means attending industry events and building out strategic channels and information-sharing communities to better understand their sticking points. We’ve also established customer segments and verticals to identify and interact with the unique needs of different types of customers to deliver a personalized service approach. When we understand how customers are using our product — and particularly their pain points — we can better target everything from our marketing and sales campaigns to all product-focused initiatives

Everyone in our organization knows customer retention is a team sport. Reaching out to customers to help solve product issues or when launching something new is not only possible but preferable. That’s precisely why we launched a customer retention program that treats flight risks as a pipeline and leverages tightly coordinated collaboration across departments to deliver impact to those customers.

Most importantly, these frequent and proactive touchpoints also allow us to learn what is working for our customers, which we’ve seen be a powerful motivator for our team.

Related: 3 Ways Founders Can Connect With Their Customers to Drive Sales

Don’t overlook the link between employee experience and customer experience

Being on the receiving end of an exceptional customer experience can radically shift the way we perceive a business. It turns out that when an employee has a hand in making that happen, it can be just as impactful for them.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise: today’s employees are looking for purpose in their work. Who doesn’t want to make a difference in the lives of others? Connecting this desire to customer success initiatives only makes sense — it improves the ability to deliver on customer promises and makes the workplace more satisfying for all.

And I believe organizations can take this connection a step further: pouring the same energy into employee experience that they do in fulfilling customers. In one of my previous roles, we would actively measure customer retention against employee retention and found a strong correlation between the two. These results were interesting but not shocking: prioritizing employee experience leads to more engaged employees, who, in turn, are motivated to create better customer experiences. Simply put, boosting satisfaction in one camp can effectively raise retention and productivity levels for both.

Of course, this balance isn’t always easy to get right. But in my experience, incremental improvements are what add up over time. Starting small is better than not at all. At the end of the day, the more your employees know, understand and care about your customers, the better they’ll serve them (and the more they’ll enjoy the results) — regardless of the role they are in. And that’s a true win-win for the bottom line.