Good listening skills key to successful marketing

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The response to a recent column I wrote on poor customer service resulted in an avalanche of reader e-mails. It supports my contention that corporate Am-erica is not listening to its customers, many of whom have the urge to vent and the need to seek retribution.|ret||ret||tab|

The best customer service organizations (few as they are) tend to possess four dominant traits:|ret||ret||tab|

They have a culture of commitment and belief in the importance of the customer, commencing with a leader at the top who fanatically drives the message down (think Nordstrom). |ret||ret||tab|

They believe in repetitive training. |ret||ret||tab|

They believe in constant monitoring of performance and attention to metrics. |ret||ret||tab|

They possess exceptional listening skills (think Japanese auto makers). |ret||ret||tab|

Of the four, it's the listening that garners the least attention from most marketers. Yet it's the one customer need that is most deeply felt. |ret||ret||tab|

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Why do it?|ret||ret||tab|

The data very clearly shows that customers will respond favorably to someone who listens. Seventy percent of customers who have suffered a bad experience will return to the brand if the problem is addressed in their favor. That number rises to 95 percent if the problem is addressed on the spot. A TARP Study reveals that 9 percent of those who have a complaint and don't voice it won't re-turn to buy again.|ret||ret||tab|

Ironically, the American customer is essentially nonconfrontational by nature. After all, it's not worth the energy or the angst to argue. If you've had a bad experience, simply move to another company, supplier or brand. |ret||ret||tab|

Then there's the issue of personality. Ours is not an intimate culture. We tend to shy away from intimacy, particularly in our commercial transactions. |ret||ret||tab|

Bottom line, marketers must force confrontation with their customers, get them to open up just like ex-New York Mayor Ed Koch, who whenever he met a constituent always asked the question, "How am I doing?"|ret||ret||tab|

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Being better listeners|ret||ret||tab|

Companies have to walk away from the "field of dreams" mentality that we so often see in the industrial, engineering and technology sectors; a mentality that dictates that all we have to do is build a better mouse trap, with lots of bells and whistles, and everyone will buy it. |ret||ret||tab|

It's a mentality that says, "We know what the customer wants." This philosophy decrees that we design, build and market first, then ask questions later. That's how Detroit used to build and market automobiles until the Japanese and Germans set them straight. |ret||ret||tab|

Ed Gagnon, principal of Charlotte-based Customer Service Solutions, ad-vises his clients "to be strategic listeners." Gagnon says that listening should be directed at turning an irate customer into an "I'm OK" customer. Get them to open up. Don't argue it's not important who's right or wrong. |ret||ret||tab|

Probe for details, particularly the customer's hidden agenda, normally a concern or complaint that, for whatever reason, the customer is uncomfortable with, unable or unwilling to relate. And always confirm the understanding. |ret||ret||tab|

In environments where a complaint is not involved, marketers should always be proactively seeking feedback about performance, people issues, competition, changing customer needs, etc.|ret||ret||tab|

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Specific listening skills|ret||ret||tab|

The list is long but some of the obvious candidates include:|ret||ret||tab|

CRM: It's now an affordable tool for small business. As The Peppers and Rogers Group notes, customer relationship management allows a company to "learn more about a customer's needs and behaviors, and enables a firm to develop stronger, more profitable relationships with that customer."|ret||ret||tab|

Mystery shopping: Ideal for the retailer. An affordable technique that never lies because it takes place at that most intimate point at which customer and marketer touch. |ret||ret||tab|

Evaluations: A formal written process in which the customer or client evaluates the provider (ideal for professional service firms). There's also the third-party independent consultant who confidentially audits the customer or client about the relationship. |ret||ret||tab|

Focus groups: A simple and efficient way of probing for diagnostic information about the product or brand. Nothing hurts more than to hear a customer describe how ugly your baby is behind your back. |ret||ret||tab|

Relationship time: Getting together with the customer at off-site events, be they planning sessions or a golf outing, to help level the communication barriers. |ret||ret||tab|

(Alf Nucifora is an Atlanta-based marketing consultant.)[[In-content Ad]]