Last month, I went on a girl’s weekend to Sedona and tried something a little out of the ordinary. I decided to intentionally NOT talk as much and actually LISTEN. Not interrupt at exciting moments, but ask questions and listen attentively. And I will tell you, it was enlightening! Even after the fact, I still remember so much about the girls I went with, the stories they shared with me and all the personal details I listened so intently to.
How often do we truly listen? To our co-workers, customers, and most importantly – customers prospects? Even further, how often do we absorb what we just heard and use it to our benefit? Sometimes we’re moving so fast that information goes in one ear and out the other.
In B2B Marketing, listening is our most powerful weapon. We B2B marketers most likely listen in one of three ways. How you improve your listening in those facets is the true test!
Photo credit: Orin Woodward Leadership Inc.
In-Person
It’s not every day that you get face-to-face time with a customer or prospect these days. Face-time to me also includes email, phone and Skype. All are considered real-time situations where you have their direct attention. Take this as the perfect opportunity to improve your listening skills.
You might have perfect eye contact or the best e-mail voice, but if you’re not genuinely listening to what they’re saying, you’re only diminishing your chances. You need to make them feel most important. I really like these tips to improve your listening – I’ve also found them to improve my memory retention!
Online
Improve your listening by being where your customers are – online! There are an endless number of conversations happening online that impact your business that you should be listening to and monitoring. Go where your customers are and follow their conversations – listen to their challenges, opinions, and questions.
You can rely on social media networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and Facebook to see into the minds of your customers and prospects and conduct custom, keyword/phrase searches. Contribute as you see fit, but mainly just spend some time online listening and tracking what people are saying, particularly about your brand.
Another great tool that I use daily is Google Alerts. Set up an automatic alert when your brand name or company is mentioned online. It actually gets pretty addicting and the conversation comes to YOU.
Post-Sale
Are you asking your customers/prospects to share their feedback with you? And if so, how frequently? Most importantly, how are you showing them that you’re listening?
Make surveys or focus groups a part of your strategic marketing plan. You can conduct these in person, online or even via video conference. After you decide on the channel, decide on the frequency – monthly, annually, after every sales experience, etc.
By asking them questions and showing them that you care about their opinion, you can listen reactively to your customers while simultaneously proving that you’re trustworthy because you value their input.
Ultimately what will you gain from listening better?
- Trust – it’s rather important
- Knowledge – insight into your customers’/prospects’ behavior, decision-drivers, needs and opinions
- Perspective – what do people think of your brand? What is the state of the industry?
- Ideas – listening might spark something you never knew you or your company needed
I’ll now leave you with four great quotes from Dale Carnegie on listening:
- “Learn to listen more than you talk.”
- “Many people listen, very few actually hear.”
- “If you aspire to be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener”
- “To be interesting, be interested”
Which Carnegie quote speaks to you the most? What social networks do you use regularly to listen or what are some of your most useful listening tips?
I was recently introduced to a market research app called 
