Are You Actually Listening to Your Customers? Three Ways You Can Do It

It's easy to assume that you have everything under control within the four walls of your company. However, when it comes to the tech industry, few things are more dangerous than assuming you know it all. The marketplace is talking—are you listening?

There's Value in Being Quiet

Talk to enough founders of failed businesses, and it’s evident that a lack of success in the business world is often tied directly to a company's inability or unwillingness to listen to its customers. This idea was the case for Angus Murray, founder of frozen yogurt brand Foxy's.

Murray believes that not listening to his customers almost killed his business from the start. He and his team made broad assumptions about what their target market was looking for. "By trying to imagine what customers wanted, I had thought I could escape actually asking them," he recalls. That was not the case.
It wasn't until he started listening that the company discovered what worked. Today, customers can find Foxy's products in more than 500 stores in the United Kingdom and Asia.

Murray isn't the only entrepreneur who has discovered the value in listening. Margo Morrison, owner, and creator of Margo Morrison New York, has discovered firsthand the danger of becoming too self-absorbed in one’s own actions.

"What's really important when you're running a company and a business and you're in the marketplace is to not fall in love with your designs to the point where you're unwilling to be flexible with what the market is asking for," Morrison tells Brandboom.

While one business owner’s pain points are different than Murray's and Morrison's, learning from their experiences will help recognize the value in listening to customers.

How is it done? Here are three practical strategies:

1. Use Social Listening Tools

Social media is a powerful resource for modern businesses. No one needs to say this, but what may not be realized is how helpful social media can be as a platform for organically gathering customer feedback.

"Quite simply, if you're not engaged in social media listening, you're creating your business strategy with blinders on," marketing expert Christina Newberry writes. "You're missing out on mountains of actionable insights from real people who are actively talking about you or your industry online. Why wouldn't you want to listen to them?"

The best part about social listening is that there are a variety of tools that can be used to streamline the process. Here's a list of some of the best ones.

2. Gather Formal Feedback

There's something powerful about the organic nature of social listening, but there's also a time and a place for gathering formal feedback via surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews. Be sure to sprinkle this feedback in when possible.

3. Use Customer Service and Sales Reps

Finally, a lot can be learned by meeting with customer service agents and sales representatives. These are the folks who are on the front lines of a business and have their fingers on the pulse of the customers. They understand their pain points, recognize friction, and have a good grasp on what makes the target market happy. Pay these people well, and get them to develop regular reports and updates for the team.
It's Time to Listen Up

Are customers being heard? Is collecting information an intentional choice? By leaning in and hearing what customers have to say, personal biases can be rejected to nudge the business forward, so it can get where it needs to be.

Larry is an independent business consultant specializing in tech, social media trends, business, and entrepreneurship. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.