Write with your ears? What’s that? Another stupid human trick? I suppose it could be, but this post focuses on an even better trick.

• Connecting with customers
• And it starts with listening

Do You Hear Me Now?

In a past life, I accompanied sales representatives on presentations to potential clients. The industry was highly competitive. So, sales constantly tried to stand out from the crowd – like any business.

But, sales often had a troubling pattern.

• Representatives felt pressured to have all the answers
• Even before the customer could speak, sales had the answer
• But how could they when they didn’t know the question? When they failed to listen?

Customers want their voices heard. In their rush to find the perfect solution, experts may forget to listen to their customers.

A Study in Business Listening

Your customer classroom consists of two kinds of customers (hopefully).

1. Existing customers
2. Potential customers

Your hope is to convert potential customers into future customers. To keep existing customers and convert potential customers, you need to listen first, then deliver what they want.

• But, how do you do that with customers you haven’t met?
• And how do you balance that with existing customers’ needs?

You need to foster customer obsession. Not merely customer-focused, but card-carrying obsessed.

Amazon made customer obsession its number one leadership principle. And I’ve heard, they’re doing pretty well.

 

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Amazon prospers through personalization and giving customers what they want.

Ready for Something Better

The tricky thing about business listening is customers may not know what they want. Sometimes not until you give it to them. Confused? Let’s look at an example.

Consider Amazon’s Echo with voice assistant, Alexa. If you asked customers back in 2014 (when Echo launched) if they wanted the voice-activated device, would they have said yes?

• I bet many would have laughed at the idea
• Today, Amazon has sold more than 100 million Alexa devices

So, you’re probably thinking – great, that’s Amazon – but, I don’t have the luxury of billions of dollars invested in my business.

True, although Amazon began as a start-up in a garage. But, even if you have smaller goals than world domination, customer obsession elevates business listening to clairvoyant-like results.

Make customer obsession the basis of your business. In all things you do – marketing, sales, customer service, product fulfillment – fixate on the customer. The following illustrates how even the smallest of businesses can foster customer obsession.

Love the One You’re With

What customer obsession teaches is to love the one you’re with. If you delight existing customers, new ones will follow. So, it’s pretty important to keep those existing customers happy. No one wants to feel ignored.

A personal pet peeve of mine is the company that offers all kinds of great deals ~

• for new customers only
• excluding (or forgetting) existing customers
• some who have been with the company for years

Or worse yet – companies that only offer that deal when the existing customer calls to terminate.

If you practice customer obsession, you build products and service from what customers want. Who doesn’t want a better deal?

You don’t have to offer existing customers the same deal, but you sure as heck need to offer them something they value.

Listen – Then Write with Your Ears

In business writing, you may not have the benefit of physical and verbal cues from the customer. So, you need to do your homework to write with your ears.

The Study in Business Listening is the first lesson in hearing what your customers have to say. With customer obsession as your basis, you can create business writing customers relate to – whether they’re existing or potential customers.

When you do speak with existing or potential customers, make the most of the opportunity. The following graphic illustrates tips for customer meetings so you deliver an A+ communication.

 

Once you’ve done the homework, you’re ready to prepare your business writing. You are ready to write with your ears. The following illustrates five points that help you connect to customers.

Listening and being heard is a fundamental need of each of us. Make customer obsession second nature to your business and writing with your ears will become your newest superhero power.

What tips do you have for better business communication?

Note: This July 14, 2020 post is an update to one that originally posted on January 27, 2010.

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