The Power of Listening to Your Clients

Many companies have excellent services or products.  I also see amazing brands, with great taglines, logos and sales pages.  However, no matter how great your product or service, if you are not listening to your clients and customers to discover their needs, your business will only go so far. 

I am still amazed when I speak with excited and ambitious entrepreneurs that design their wonderful plans and strategies based on their strengths and talents. Business and marketing plans should include your strengths, however, without listening and responding to clients needs or wants,  you don’t have a business.

Below are five ways to listen to your clients:

1.) Client or Prospective Client Visits:  Never underestimate the power of an in-person visit. When a business owner or professional visits their customers or clients, just for a check-in visit, more often than not, it turns into a business opportunity.  Many professionals have projects and needs sitting on their desk or in their inbox that they have not assigned or sought help for yet,  If your business is solving a problem or making someone’s life easier, visiting a potential client is a great way of reminding them about your value.

2.) Online surveys:  Online surveys are great and easy way to receive client feedback.  Not everyone will complete the survey,  however, you still may be able to collect enough information to impact your marketing strategy.  The key is to make the surveys easy and brief.  There is a strategy to creating surveys.  Be sure to be thoughtful and strategic when surveying your audience.

3.) Watch Your Analytics:  Notice what your audience is responding to on social media.  If your followers are not responding to your posts or asking more questions, you are not listening to your audience.  You should reevaluate your content and create content that is valuable to your clients.

4.) More Social Listening:  Not only should you watch your analytics, but also watching what your clients and prospective clients are responding to or sharing on social media provides competitive intelligence.  Look at your top clients and prospects.  What are they sharing or reading?  This should give you more insights on your clients.

5.) Create Forums:  Part of effective and strategic marketing is creating a community or a “tribe.”  It takes time to do this and it depends on your industry, however if you are able to do this, it helpful in gathering feedback. Within this “tribe” – you are able to ask questions and get feedback on new initiatives and products.  A tribe can be created and maintained through a private online group or focus groups.  Think about your industry and what make sense for your business.

If you listen and watch, your customers will tell you what they need. How are you listening to your audience and learning more about their needs?  If you need assistance with developing a plan to reach out to your clients or prospects, please contact me.