Meet, learn and listen…in a new way

I love leaving the office. Seriously, no sarcasm implied here. I really love doing the market and customer visits. (You do both, right?)  It’s not just the interesting information you find out about how your product is being used – sometimes in ways you never thought of; or, how the customer is influenced in their buying decision – sometimes in ways you never thought of here too. But, it’s about the people.

If you’ve spent time developing personas, you went out and did these visits to collect your data. (If you didn’t, then how did you know the attitudes, goals and behaviors you were trying to portray and capture?) But, after your visits, have you stayed out of the office? You need to keep listening.

But, why I really love the visits is because of the people. Throughout I have met with CEO’s and small business owners, IT managers and marketing administration, janitors and jewelers. A diverse group to say the least.

What I know, is that establishing a rapport is key, and the foundation for your conversation and relationship. If you are not one who is comfortable speaking with – not to or at – people, I would suggest you either 1) get a coach, or 2) find another person to lead while you shadow.

Once you have the rapport established, the fun can start. Listen to the other person. I don’t mean listen the way you think you’re listening to your spouse. Listen the way you did to your child’s story about the first day of school. Remember feeling enamored and raptured? Remember the sense of awe? Listen as if every word you’re hearing is a new story…because it is. And what you can learn can change how you do business.

Looking in from the outside, if we go into these meetings thinking we already know what we’re going to hear, we already have tuned out from learning. Take the time to develop a new relationship every week or so. Alternate between phone and in person. But, no matter what format you chose, listen as if it’s a 6-year old telling you all about her first day of school with her new friends Bobby, Jimmy and Jane. Listening like you do to a kid makes the whole time more fun.