Ready to Start Listening Again?

Remember that Marketing 101 class that you took in college?

Chapter 1 of the textbook probably pegged the dawn of the marketing era somewhere around 1960, when companies realized that listening to the wants and needs of the market was critical for success.

In today's economy, many companies seem to have forgotten the importance of listening. They might be making attempts at listening. Sending out thousands of e-mail invitations for a Web survey and hoping for a 5% completion rate. Or, hiring a company to monitor blogs to discover what the marketplace is saying about them.

Really effective listening takes a more disciplined effort. It requires:

  • The location and screening of customers and prospects to make sure that you are listening to the right people

  • The selection of the best data collection approach for your information needs
    • Focus groups, individual depth interviews, telephone interviews, or Web-based interviewing

  • The careful drafting of an interview with understandable questions that explore the right issues

  • The use of experienced interviewers who are trained to listen
    • Interviewers who recognize an incomplete answer when they hear it and know how to probe and clarify to capture meaningful information

If you agree that listening to the market is critical to your company's success, give us a call at 513-984-9708.

Ask to speak to Pat or Nick Calo. You'll talk. We'll listen.