Make Listening to Customers a Strategic Priority

Genuinely listening to customers should be a strategic priority of your business or organization.

Think about this question for a moment: On average, how many seconds pass before physicians interrupt patients during the initial phase of office visits?

Believe it or not, researchers studied this precise issue, and, based on their research, they actually determined the average amount of time that passes prior to physicians interrupting their patients during the initial phase of office visits.

So, what’s the answer? Drumroll…18 seconds.

Yes, the researchers discovered that, even though the patients themselves were likely the best source of information, physicians, on average, interrupted their patients and interjected their own thoughts and observations only 18 seconds into the initial phase of office visits.

I became aware of this study while viewing a video clip of Tom Peters, a business leader strategist, several years ago. In the video, a link to which is provided below, Tom explains the critical importance of genuinely listening to customers, employees, and vendors. In fact, Tom advances a strong argument in favor of businesses and organizations identifying listening as a strategic priority.

And, let’s face it: he’s right.

While listening to customers, how many times do we:

• think to ourselves, “I’ve heard this before”;

• think about what we are going to say once the customer stops talking; or,

• worse yet, interrupt the customer?

If we’re engaged in any — or all — of the behaviors listed above, we’re not really listening! Indeed, listening is an active, as opposed to a passive, function that requires us to focus exclusively on the customer, which means no multitasking, no thinking about what to say next, and no interrupting. This strategy is often referred to as strategic listening, active listening, or, as we at LearnAcre prefer, listening LOUDLY!

Given the importance of listening to customers, is it any surprise that “listening to the customer” ranks third on the list of top experience trends for 2016? In short, customers desire “shorter surveys, more listening.”

This week, commit yourself to doing these three things:

• First, watch Tom Peters’ video on listening. While the video is only a few minutes long, it is very powerful and informative. In fact, I watch the video each month to remind myself of the critical importance of listening.

• Second, make a concerted effort to listen LOUDLY to your customers. Remember, customers are likely the best source of information in regards to a question, issue, or complaint, so why wouldn’t we provide them with our full attention?

• Third, consider identifying listening to customers as a strategic priority of your business or organization, and ensure that each employee understands the important role and benefits of listening LOUDLY to customers. Your customers will appreciate the attention and reward your business or organization with loyalty and referrals.

In the meantime, have a “customerific” week!

Mark