Once customers make up their minds about a brand, it’s extremely difficult to change them.

Even when what they think isn’t true.

The biggest challenge I face as CEO of Sprint is changing outdated and untrue perceptions about my company. So as I’m traveling across the country, I’m conducting a national listening tour. I want to hear directly from consumers about what they believe about Sprint and what they value most in a wireless carrier.

We conduct research all the time, and, with my leadership team, we often pore over the charts to see what we can learn. The data tell us that many consumers don’t give us credit for the quality of our product – our wireless network – and the value we offer.

LTE Download Delivered Speeds

What I’m finding on this tour is that message can be even more powerful when I look someone in the eye and they tell me right to my face.

That happened the other night when I was in Seattle and I gathered with a dozen people in The Virginia Inn, a cool bistro just up the hill from the Pike Place Market. I had a great conversation with a couple of Sprint customers and about 10 others who use carriers such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.

One of the first things I learned is that I spend a lot more time thinking about wireless service than most customers! Probably not all that surprising considering my line of work. But I am puzzled how most people couldn’t imagine leaving home for the day without their smartphone yet typically devote little attention to the service that makes it work. Or really look into how they could save a lot of money.

I asked if any of them could recall a recent wireless company’s commercial. Some couldn’t think of any. Others weren’t always clear about which carrier was behind one they did remember. And one person was surprised to learn that what they recalled as a mobile phone commercial actually was selling them insurance from GEICO.

Troubling when you think that Sprint and our competitors pump billions of dollars every year into producing and broadcasting commercials. But I believe it offers a lesson to business leaders in any industry. Customers will never know as much about our products as we do. And even when you have something better, overcoming inertia to encourage a consumer to make a change is extremely difficult. It’s up to us to make sure we do a better job of grabbing their attention amid formidable competition for mindshare, communicating clearly about the things they care about the most, and make a compelling case for why they should switch.

When it comes to wireless, that means their phone works when they want to use it. And they pay a fair price. The consumers I met didn’t think we’ve got a great network, and they thought Sprint was as expensive as the others. Not true. We have the fastest network – as third-party experts will tell you – and we’re half the price.

When I had the chance to explain this to the group in Seattle, many were persuaded to take a closer look at Sprint. In fact, a handful have already been in touch with me to switch. It’s left me thinking about what we need to do to spread this message to many more consumers. In a future post, I’ll share other lessons we are learning from our listening tour. But the key takeaway so far is that it’s always a good idea to get out and talk with your customers.

This is the best thing I’ve done since I became CEO at Sprint.