Marriage can be tricky for leaders. The pressures of running a business can often overflow into their personal lives.

Many leaders want to build better relationships with their spouse, but they often feel overwhelmed when trying to balance building a great company with having time for their significant other. They often feel like there is just not enough time to do everything and to do everything well. It leads highly successful CEOs to feel like failures because, even though they have built a thriving company, they haven’t built a thriving personal relationship with their better half.

A major breakthrough happened for me when I learned that I could use my business skills to enhance my personal relationships. In fact, I came to understand that I needed to treat my spouse like my most important customer. It’s a tall order, but it’s well worth the effort.

Here’s how to treat your spouse like your No. 1 customer:

1. Answer every call every time.

If you’re a business owner, you understand the value of communicating with customers. Taking calls and returning calls communicates that you value the person on the other end. That’s why I made it a priority to answer every call from my spouse. I want her to know that her call is important to me, and I let every other customer know that if I see her call, I must answer it. I never want her to feel neglected or second best.

A second-mile principle I enacted was to create a personalized message for my wife. In the event I can’t get to my phone, there’s a personalized message just for her. At the end of my traditional message, I added: “And if this is my wife, just know that I am thinking about you and I love you. I look forward to hearing your voice and seeing you soon.”

This might not seem appropriate for a work voicemail, but I will testify that it has often separated me from my competition. My customers understand my values, and they know I place a premium on healthy relationships. It can be a game changer in life and business.