So Are You Listening To Your List And Customers?
The other day I wrote a post about how important listening was for your business. Are you listening to your list and customers? Are you asking them just what they are interested in and delivering it to them?
Listeners are attentive and pay attention to detail. They will take in everything that is being said to them and before making rash decisions may want to concentrate and think before moving forward. They then become an active listener, responding to what is said and encouraging more communication.
This can be one of the hardest things for a marketer, especially a first time marketer, to understand. They may have gotten in this business because they had a brilliant idea as to what would work.
They may have even gotten lucky the first time around with their product. But eventually you will have to talk to your customers. It may come because you don’t have an idea as to what to do next.
A lot of online marketers are now running surveys or sending out emails to find out what is needed and wanted. No reason why you could not do the same. It can even be something simple. Take note of a few ideas and ask for opinions and thoughts.
You will find that a good open ear can go a long ways to being aware. But above all else, once you have heard what is said, be sure to follow through and make sure to listen to what is being said. And how it is being said.
Are they just telling you something and answering your questions and surveys so you will leave them alone or are they telling you they really have a need for?
If you are in tune with your list and customers you will know the difference. And if you are hearing a common theme you may want to take note of it because it shows there is a need.
Because if they tell you what they want and you somehow still believe that you know what they want you might find that they are not listening to you anymore and have moved on to someone who will listen. And then where will you be?
Also listen to what is not being said and maybe there are some questions you could ask them. It could be something that they had never thought of. And it could be important.
As you can see there are a few things that you might want to take note of. Everyone usually has something to say, it’s just some say it louder than others. Listen to the ones who speak softly as they are sometimes more clearer than the louder voices.
So again I ask you are you listening to your list and customers? They probably will have as much to say about your business as what you think they want to hear.
Good point as sometimes findng the right question is the key to getting an actionable answer.
Listening is important, but sometimes it’s difficult to get your list to actually tell you things. When I’ve done surveys only a very small percentage respond. And its hard to know if they are truly representative of the entire list. I think the answer is to always be inviting comments, in your blog, with occasional surveys etc. Take what you get as feedback with a grain of salt, but act on it so your list can see that you did something as a result of asking. That way those who didn’t participate will be encouraged to do so in the future.
Thanks for the reminder. I was going to question my list and I got busy and forgot about. I will do that soon and if anyone provides any questions or comments, you can bet that I will listen.
Great advice! Your right, often times we need to not only listen to what they say, but listen to what they are not saying.
What might sounds like two different issues from different people are in fact one of the same issues, just told in a different way.
Great post, this is one of the most important things you can do with your list. How can you help someone if you don’t know what they need help with.
Just sending them a poll or survey to figure out what they want works, then you recommend to them value and useful information on their request.
The most responsive list are the list that trust, credibility and relationships are created, instead of a one way blast, interacting with your list and making it fun while their learning is the best way to go.
I’ve found that when I proactively ask my list for help (ie, what works best for YOU), they come thru very well indeed.
It helps to have a landing page that makes it easy for them to tell your their insights.
As they say “find a need and fill it” What better way than to actually listen to the needs of your subscribers and customers and then filling that need.
Definitely need to try using a survey.
I have asked my subscribers on various occasions through email, but normally get no response at all.
I would definitely like to know what they want, but as Earl says it may not necessarily be what the majority wants.
As the saying goes… ‘The squeaky wheel gets the grease’, meaning that the ones who actually respond may not actually be the ones you need to respond.
But, nonetheless it is definitely worth looking into.
Once again, powerful advice, Andre! And there’s another strong way to get feedback from your readers – watch what they react to and what they don’t as they read your blog or get your e-mails.
As to your blog, check your stats at MyBlogLog regularly, and see what pages are getting the most readers, especially posts that have been on the site a while. This shows the area of interest that’s pulling the most attention.
For your e-zine readers, look over the last 3-6 months of affiliate promotions you’ve done, and see which topics typically get the greatest clickthroughs. You can’t base it on one or two promotions, because you may have pre-sold it better in one letter than another. But by looking at a mid-term average, you’ll see patterns that incidate what they want to know more about.