As you may or may not know, I am a martial artist in my spare time. I practice a certain style of Okinawan Karate.
That is pretty irrelevant except for some
of the great wisdom that my teacher
occasionally shares with us.
This latest one is a great tip for
finding exactly what you want from your
customers.
We were teaching a group of children and
one of the kids was particularly noisy that
day.
My teacher asked him “how many ears do you have?”
…kid says “2″
My teacher asks “how many eyes do you have?”
…kid says “2″
My teacher finally asks “how many mouths do you
have?”
…kid says “1, of course”
My teacher then says “then you should always be
watching and listening twice as much as you are
talking”
This is exactly what you should be doing around
your customers. Each time you interact with them,
you have the ability to gain information about
what they like, dislike, and ideas for future
projects.
Instead of just shuffling our feet and hoping
that you can get out of there and go play golf,
try to REALLY listen to what the person is saying.
Maybe your widget has a fatal flaw.
Maybe your customer service needs some tweaking.
Maybe your customer is just dying to tell someone
the greatest, million dollar idea in the world.
…or perhaps you just want to know where you
stand with them and whether or not they are looking
for a new supplier.
You can find out all of this stuff by watching
and listening twice as much as you are talking.
Your customers will think you are wise and you
will gain some really important research intel
in the process.
Until Tomorrow,
Joshua Black
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{ 5 comments }
I always have to remind my two children of this very valuable lesson and it goes great in applying it to your business because you definitely need to listen to your customers needs. This tells them that you genuinely care about them and you also get to know your customers this way too.
Anna
@Anna
Thanks for stopping by. Listening can really do wonders for your personal image as well. People that talk a lot appear to be a lot LESS wise and knowledgeable compared to the people that really think about what they are going to say first.
Hi Joshua, I’ve thought that there was something quite unusual about your style and know that you’re a martial arts person explains it!
It’s almost zen like in how it flows, but hits you with a real punch which hits you right in the face.
Excellent stuff. Keep them coming!
@Matthew
Yes, I’ve been practicing various martial arts for over 20 years and it is amazing how much that mindset and the ability to stay calm during chaos transfers over into every area of life… especially when I’m frustrated and can’t get some little widget to work on the blog
-Josh
Hey Joshua,
I think that you are really right on this one. Even for things that are not sales-related, listening and understanding other people’s points of view is so important.
I think that in the context of sales, many sales-people are so focused on making the sale and convincing the potential buyer that it is a good idea that they tend to (verbally) walk all over the potential buyer.
And that is when the potential buyer becomes the person walking away to find the product elsewhere.
Have a great day!