Are You a Good Listener?

Most of us can accept compliments.
Some of us can accept suggestions.
Few of us accept criticism, even when it is constructive.

Listening goes beyond not speaking, it is an action of receiving what a person has to say. Listening is an essential part of communication, and it is different from hearing. Listening to your customer gives you the opportunity to hear what your customers have to say without judgment, and with interest. Besides which, you learn a lot from listening.

Granny's Corner located in Chicago Illinois listened to her customers. Her customers were sharing their frustration of having to fight traffic and cook dinner after picking up their children from her daycare business. Since she loves to cook, and provides freshly made meals for the children daily, she decided to create a "supper club" for her clients. Weekly, she prepares a meal-to-go that her clients can order in advance and pick up when they pick up their children on an appointed day of the week. This enabled her to create an additional life cycle from her current client base and profit for her business by over 10%. She didn't need more customers to increase her profitability, she just needed to LISTEN.

Other daycare facilities have decided to sell individual diapers, milk, and other small items to their client that assist them in those small items that alleviates an additional stop on the way home.

Next time you communicate with your customers, will you hear them, or will you listen to them?

I have some recommended readings and resources on my site to help you with setting goals, writing your life's vision, and some articles that I have written in the past to you help you along the way.