I’m often befuddled as to why business owners fail to listen
to their customers. Sometimes it’s because they don’t know how to listen.
Sometimes it’s because the lack the follow-through capabilities to respond to
their customer’s requests in a timely manner. Sometimes it’s because they want
to gather additional information from other customers in order to ascertain
whether the concerns are valid. Yet, sometimes it’s simply due to arrogance.
It’s this arrogance that costs customer relationships and valuable business.
Every customer discussion should be followed up with a debriefing session. It doesn’t have to be an extravagant review. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out affair. It only needs to be a period of reflection, one where an assessment can be made as to what the customer’s exact concerns were.
Unfortunately, far too many business owners think they know better than their customers. Far too many believe that they themselves hold all the answers. Better yet, far too many business owners have nobody to question their motives, nobody to answer to and nobody to challenge them. Instead, they rely upon their own opinion and assessment of the situation, and that’s never a good thing.
Arrogance Will Kill Your Customer Relationships
Part of the problem comes from the fact that all business owners are arrogant. In fact, they almost have to be. They have succeeded exactly because they’ve been able to ignore all the naysayers. They’ve succeeded despite the odds and they simply can’t afford to succumb to dissenting opinions.
Unfortunately, business owners fail to differentiate between the opinions of the everyday individual or competitor and the opinions of their very own customers. As a business owner, you’ve succeeded in building your business by focusing on your goals. However, there comes a time when your experience comes back to haunt you. Ultimately, you start to assume you have all the answers. You start to assume that your customers don’t know what they need and this is where you end up crossing the line.
Imagine how frustrated you would be if someone acted like they knew more about your business than you did. Imagine how offended you would be if a salesperson started dictating to you about how to run your business. What opportunities would this salesperson have in terms of winning business with your company? You already know the answer to this question: No salesperson will ever win your business if all they bring to the table are a bunch of assumptions and assertions about what you need and how you need it. In fact, it’s more than likely that you’ll simply end the conversation right there and dismiss the salesperson entirely.
Customers Would Rather “Save Face” Than Directly Confront a Business Owner
Your customers can’t dismiss you as easily as you would that aforementioned salesperson. Why? Simply put, your customers respect your position as a business owner far too much to simply dismiss you the way they would a salesperson. While your customers may respect you as a business owner, it doesn’t mean they like or appreciate what you’re saying. Their silence should speak volumes and when they do say something, it’s up to you to listen carefully to what they are telling you.
Again, not every customer will directly come out and tell you just how wrong you are. Not every customer will challenge a business owner by explaining just how deficient their company is at servicing them. Instead, you need to get back to what got your company off the ground in the first place. Focus on listening again and stop making assumptions.
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