Listening to the Customer

***I should first say that my thoughts and prayers go to the soldiers killed on American soil at Fort Hood this afternoon. 11-5-2009***

You know, the more I understand modern business the more I see why some companies fail…….and fail miserably. I love this internet age. I know of no other time in history in which the general populace had such access to information. A Health Bill is being debated in the USA (Nov. 2009) and for one of the first times in history the ‘common man’ can simply download the Bill and draw his own conclusions and even engage in the debate at various levels online.

As related to business, we have the means to engage the customer. All we have to do is go where the customer is online and become a part of the conversation. The customer is more than willing to tell us their opinions, we simply have to listen. Sadly, many companies refuse to accept the fact that end users will go online and will state their opinions. We (the business owners) can either ignore the fact that the conversations are occurring or we can create our own conversations as well as take part in existing conversations.

I am amazed that during this age of knowledge and information ………we use this advantage so little. I maintain the stance, “If you want to know how someone feels, simply ask them.”

kml

2009