I had a great conversation with a client last night that lasted until 10 PM. I usually don’t schedule meetings that late (or like them) but in this situation I had no other choice. It turns out that it ended up being a good meeting that involved a lot of listening. It got me thinking about the way we listen to our clients.
Often times we (Internet marketing/SEO folks) talk with smart, capable business owners who don’t understand what we do, and we end up doing all the talking, and get use to doing all the talking. Sometimes we do so much talking we don’t take the time to listen to what our clients are saying, or what they really need from us. I know I have been guilty of this in the past!
This client called the meeting and just wanted to talk about a few things and ideas he had to drum up his business in this economy, and wanted our input etc. I came away from the meeting feeling I had gained new insight into how I wanted to approach his campaign from here on out. In this current economy if we want to keep our clients making money, we have to make sure and listen to them, and adjust where needed, because in most cases – they know their industry better then we do!
No amazing tips here, just some basic no duh reminders about listening to your clients that I think need to be written down!
Mat – Great reminder. Too often we go head on into a sales call and tell our clients and prospects how things should be done, how great we are, what we’ve done for others, etc. But, we forget to shut up and listen to what the needs of that customer are.
Good reminder post, thanks
@Jack Brandt
Thanks for your comment, and you drive home my point exactly! When we do this we create a better relationship and that is kind of the light that went on last night and why I posed about it today!
Well said, we can all use this reminder Everyone from time to time gets lost in talking and forgets to listen, a great tip to start the month.