Thankfully, it's easy to rectify this - simply get out and reconnect with your customer. Set aside one day a week for two months to do only that. Go see your customers - on their turf, and without any filters (the best way is just to pick 'em at random from your customer list and, more importantly, from your 'lost opportunities' list - the potential customers who didn't buy from you will give you the best feedback on what you're missing).

Ask blunt, simple questions - the same questions you think you know the answer to: What are you buying? From whom? Why? What makes you buy from us? Why don't you buy from us? What needs are we fulfilling for you? What needs are we not fulfilling?

Repeat the process once a year to stay in touch and rediscover what your customers really want.

2. Set minimum standards for customer interaction
Based on what you (re-)learn, set clear, minimum standards for customer interaction, including sales scripts, service guidelines, dress code and follow-up routines. Set reasonable, achievable goals for each area in which your company interacts with the customer.

Here's a tip: before distributing them, give a copy of your new customer guidelines to your spouse (or a good friend who doesn't work for your company), and ask for a 'reality test' - do they sound 'normal'? Are they in plain english, or 'corporate-speak'? Above all, are they about the customer, or about your company?