The First Duty Of Love Is To Listen

Theologian Paul Tilliach said, “The first duty of love is to listen”. It’s also the first duty of leadership and the first duty of selling… especially servant selling. It’s also the last thing sales people are noted for and probably the last thing the typical sales manager hires for. Great business organizations are always great at listening to the customer and that intention must start at the top if the organization is to maximize it’s success in the marketplace. It is always amazing to me when I run across a CEO that has never spent time with the customer.

Here is a short list of some of the ways businesses can began to listen:

Customer Surveys… There are many ways to conduct a survey.
Customer Follow Up
Community Surveys
Customer Contact
Customer Contact Reports
Customer Councils
Focus Groups
Customer Interviews
Email
Test Marketing
Inspections
Ombudsmen
Complaint Tracking System
800 Numbers
Suggestion Boxes and Forms
Scheduled visits to stores and programs
Drop Bys
Sales Person Feed Back


And of course listening is almost meaningless if you don’t take corrective action on what you learn. If you doubt this ask your spouse.