Each month, entrepreneur and author Sahar Hashemi answers a reader's question

Q: I am marketing director for a well-established brand and I want the team to be more creative about customer service. Any suggestions?

A: Do your team see customers as a market segment with behavioural patterns whom they are trying to cajole to buy product? Do they have a "them" (the customer) and "us" (the seller) approach? Are they relying on surveys and statistics to understand customers? Or do they look through the customers' eyes to experience what they are experiencing?

If your team is typical, it probably isn't doing enough of the latter. Each person needs to ask: "If I were paying for this product, what would I expect to receive? A product, a service, advice, care, an experience, or all of these?"

Once your team start thinking like this about your product, not objectively but very subjectively, and listen to their own reactions, they will get amazing insights. They will spot pet peeves, headaches and problems that are just begging to be solved. This unlocks their innate creativity.

I know this is true as I have always started businesses because of an unmet personal need. In the UK, I couldn't find the skinny lattes I had become hooked on while in New York—so I started a US-style coffee-bar chain. I wanted it for myself and figured other people would want it, too. This is the entrepreneurial approach to customer service.

And we need more of this approach in big organisations. It's not just about people getting ahead in their careers—it's about making their work more fulfilling. Looking at customers from the outside and reading reports about them is boring. Connecting with them face-to-face gives people the satisfaction of problem solving. Asking if there is a better way is very empowering. And finding ways to improve service will engage the whole team and bring out their creativity.

Sahar Hashemi's latest book is Switched On