3 Rules For Better Listening

The world is rapidly changing for businesses. It’s extremely more connected, radically less tolerant and scarily fast to react. Anything that happens within companies can be instantly shared. Companies ranging from Volkswagen, Facebook, Enron or United are simply too big to hide.

But their ability to overcome crises has to do with the strategic, two-sided relationship they have with their customers. Especially in difficult times, customers commitment to companies can define the company’s fate. The nurturing of this cohesion must happen at a very early stage.

Turning words into actions

Building cohesion is not a rocket science, but it requires a different style. Here are 3 tips on how this can be done:

1. Get an advisory board. It can be digital, it can be physical. But offer your customers and employees the ability to address key challenges you identify. You’ll be surprised how much help they can give you.
2. Cut the lines. Set a weekly visit to your call center, talk with your front-desk teams and read random customers complaints. Senior managers become too senior too fast. Bypass the corporate walls, don’t erect them.
3. Set a 50% rule. When senior executives speak, everyone, including customers, are listening. You need to find a way to bypass this natural barrier. Limiting yourself to talk no more than half of time is a first step.

Don’t wait for a crisis

When customers feel involved, they are more committed and more likely to help you sustain and grow your business. If they feel excluded, they will always be bystanders, waiting for a competitor to come.

Therefore, customer commitment should be developed on time, better before the next crisis, and not after. In today’s climate, where companies can rise and fall in days, committed customers are an essential path to sustainable growth.