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To achieve lasting success, company owners and leaders must learn how to establish long-term relationships with customers. As a business owner, you want every interaction customers or clients have with your business to be a positive one. While most successful businesses develop policies and procedures to try to ensure stellar service, building outstanding customer relations doesn’t stop there. Leaders can’t simply assume that the services and support they’ve developed are exceeding customer expectations. To know for sure, you have to go straight to the horse’s mouth—you have to not only listen to what your customers say to and about you but also track to see if they continue to choose your business in the future. While you may not be able to ask each of your customers personally for their opinion of your company, there are metrics you can monitor to ensure you’re on the right track when it comes to offering outstanding customer service. Below, 12 leaders from Fast Company Executive Board share the metrics their organizations track to help them develop long-lasting relationships and a strong community of fans around their brand.

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New entrepreneurs often approach their hoped-for mentors first, but successful industry leaders can and should proactively reach out to help the next generation of professionals, leaders, and business owners. Often, new and young entrepreneurs are advised to seek out a mentor. Their eagerness to learn and humility when asking for help can be a huge asset in their entrepreneurial journey. However, they shouldn’t always have to do the leg work to forge a successful mentorship. Rather than waiting for an up-and-coming professional or budding entrepreneur to contact them, established business owners and leaders can be proactive and give the next generation a leg up by sharing their experiences, insights, and assistance. There are several opportunities for successful leaders to pay it forward, and it doesn’t have to be through one-to-one mentorship (although that can provide amazing insights and opportunities for both parties). Whatever the time commitment they’re able to give, leaders can and should find ways to help the next generation as they begin their journey. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share ways to do just that.

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A culture of adaptability has helped many organizations not only survive but thrive through the challenges of the past year and will set them up for future success. Founding and leading a business or organization comes with many unknowns, but one thing seems certain: At some point, leadership will have to guide the team through a crisis. While every crisis won’t have the global reach and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, every crisis can cause disruption, lost momentum, and even failure—if leaders haven’t created a culture of adaptability. With the right guidance and preparation, businesses and their team members can quickly make important decisions and pivot when and as needed—even in the face of a crisis. However, adaptability doesn’t happen accidentally; it’s a skill and a mindset that must be intentionally developed and cultivated every day within an organization. Below, the members of Fast Company Executive Board share 15 practical ways leaders of any business or organization can build a culture of adaptability.

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If you want to build a brand that lasts, start by creating a community of like-minded consumers and advocates of your product or service. With multiple social media outlets and a vast online marketplace, consumers have unprecedented access to information about companies, allowing them to make informed decisions about who to do business with. Consumers tend to put particular trust in—and therefore seek out—other consumers’ opinions. This transparency can also work in the favor of a business, which can use the same media to share information and build a community around their brand. While it starts with a good product or service, there’s more to building a community than that. If a company works to reach out to its target audience through content, shared values, and stories, happy clients and customers may turn into faithful fans who spread the word and help the brand grow. However, businesses may not always be sure of how to begin building this sense of loyalty and shared community with their current and potential audience. To help, 16 members of Fast Company Executive Board share strategies any company can use to start building a community around its brand. Follow their recommendations to plant the seeds of avid brand advocacy among your customer base.

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Debate in the workplace is essential to collecting and considering diverse opinions, but it must be done respectfully. Organizations thrive when a diverse team comes together to serve the audience and each other. Similarly, leaders benefit when they receive input from everyone throughout the company. Hearing from team members with a variety of backgrounds and experiences better informs important decisions.  When a variety of perspectives is brought to the table, however, it’s certain that there will be occasional disagreement and debate—sometimes vigorous. Challenging one another and sharing dissenting opinions is an important part of the brainstorming process, but for a strong and trusting culture, the debate must be healthy and respectful.  Setting clear “ground rules” and leveraging smart strategies can ensure all your team members feel comfortable bringing their ideas forward and working together to reach the best conclusion. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share ways they’ve accomplished this in their organizations.

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Seeking capital to fund growth can come with strings attached, so it's important to ask yourself and your investors the right questions. An essential ingredient for a growing business is access to capital at the right time. To accomplish fast, scalable growth, many business owners turn to investors for funding. The decision to add one (or more) stakeholders—who may or may not seek to have input on your company’s operations in exchange—comes with many questions (or should). So what do entrepreneurs need to ask themselves before putting together a pitch, and what should they ask their potential investors? Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share the important questions business leaders should ask when considering bringing in outside investors to ensure they’re making the right choice at the right time.