Psst!!! Are you losing customers because you’re not truly listening to what they want and need? (What did you just say Patrick?)
Too often we rush to fill a silence when listening to customers and prospects.
Rather than sit with an uncomfortable silence we rush to solve the customer’s problem. And thing is this might not be their problem at all. It could be something deeper, different, more valuable. Something you’ll miss from rushing to respond.
Listening also involves watching with your eyes as well as using your ears. You’re looking for the gaps between what a customer says and how they say it. You’ll find mismatches. It is in these gaps you can innovate and solve. It’s in these gaps you’ll be able, with practice, to intuit what the market is currently not providing.
Listening takes courage. It means suspending your (and your team’s) need to be right and be in charge. It is about saying we don’t have all the answers but we have the confidence to find out. To revel in uncertainty and then find new ways of providing service to customers from this.
Finally listening takes practice. You can get better at listening. You can learn to do this. And it can become your unfair advantage.
Bonus is that listening can help you find new customers, retain them and delight them. Why wouldn’t you want to do this?
