Listen

Late last week I spent two days at a teachers' convention promoting the products of one of my businesses, Monarch Tree Publishing. We released a new book and a new CD at the event. The book for young adults, Jesse and Cash and The Illegal Trappers, was the second in the six-book series. My emphasis in promoting the book was to focus on the series and the book's position as second in it. However, after listening to the teachers' reactions to the book, my focus changed.

Since the book is set in Madeline Island, Wisconsin, during Christmas vacation and these teachers are from Wisconsin, their interest was piqued by the location and the time of year. They found the series of secondary interest and illustrated that by asking, "Do the books need to be read in sequence?" When they were told that was not necessary, they always chose the second book first. As I reviewed our results at the end of the convention, I was struck by their response and, as a result, have changed my focus on how to market the book.

My focus changed because I listened to my customer.

Yesterday, I was reminded of this when a friend pointed out a reader's comment in Entertainment Weekly. "Look at this," she commented. "This person is criticizing HBO for dropping series. He says that HBO's viewership is declining because viewers don't trust the network. Viewers don't want to invest the time in watching HBO's series because they have been burned too many times when HBO abruptly discontinued popular series. He is saying that HBO doesn't listen to its customers."

She readily agreed with this feeling because she loved Deadwood, an HBO series, and has been agonizing over its demise for the last couple of years. When HBO suddenly dropped the series, the network promised three made-for-TV movies to wrap up loose ends of the story, but that, too, was scrapped. Her upset with HBO was so great that she dropped her subscription to the network. As you can tell, she continues to gravitate toward others who share her complaints about HBO.

HBO did not listen to its customers.

These are two good examples of what happens when you do and when you don't listen to your customers. When you do listen, you find out about your product or services from your customer's point of view. Getting your customer's perspective allows you to make adjustments in how you present your offerings. It allows you to change your offering to better suit what your customer wants. It shows you opportunities for additional business. When you do not listen, you miss all of that valuable information. Not getting your customer's perspective loses revenue. It misses opportunities. Worst of all, it could contribute to the downfall of your business.

You can improve your business today by getting your customer's point of view. Are you doing this?