• Listening is not enough

    Posted on February 1st, 2010 by and currently 25 commenting.

    Everybody’s listening these days. Listening to their customers. Listening to online conversations. Listening to their competition. (What’s funny is everyone is telling everyone else to listen and how to listen…are they listening to one another?)

    Listening is great. And doing is even better. But there’s a step in there that a lot of companies miss. Yes, you can tune in to those conversations with the likes of Umbria (now JD Power Web Intelligence), Radian6 and ScoutLabs and get all the number of mentions, sentiment and other basic information that you need to check off your list. But before all that, you really need to know what you’re listening for. Because it’s one thing to listen. And it’s quite another to know what you’re listening for. It’s even beyond “active” listening.

    Around these parts, we call is the “passion conversation.” That’s what we’re listening for. Not the conversation about your product, but the conversation about people’s lives and how you might be lucky enough to fit into it. Because you can do something with those conversations. Not just try to get people to talk louder and more about you. That strategy will fail every time.

    So sure, listen. But be open to what you’re listening for. Don’t monitor the conversation, learn from it beyond what your competition is learning from it. Listen in a way that will help you reframe how what you do and why you’re doing it. Because when you do, listening becomes the launching pad for a movement, ya hear?

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  • http://hyku.com/ Josh Hallett

    Yep….you can measure share of voice, and learn, but the next step is participation..or what portion of that entire conversation are you engaged in? Chances are for many brands it’s in the single-digits.

  • http://www.unitedlinen.com Scott Townsend

    Are you talking about finding new markets based on what people are talking about?

  • http://www.echimarketing.com Janet Alexander

    This is very much the same philosophy behind being an active learner. Example: sitting in a lecture hall, enthralled by new information…continually connecting it to your life. Initially fighting to keep your hand down, keep your mouth shut so you wouldn’t miss anything…and then, when the time was right, flinging your hand in the air to thoroughly engage with the professor…creating a true conversation. With passion.

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Scott,

    That’s a definite possibility. But I’m talking more about finding existing untapped opportunities within your own market. Once you reframe the conversation, you start realizing that it was never about you, and it was always about them – your customers. They will show you the light and if you follow them down those paths. But you have to be willing to follow and resist that temptation to lead.

  • http://www.aidjoy.org/ Mike Bergen

    Spike, Robbin, Eric-

    Just wanted to thank you guys for your commitment to thinking, and your willingness to organize those thoughts, white them down, and share them. Pinpointing these ideas and fleshing them out in one’s head to the point of being able to put them on paper in a coherent form is not something the average person has the mental wherewithal to accomplish on such a regular basis.

    Keep the wheels turning!

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Mike, you’re far too kind. We find it paramount to practice what we preach and the feedback we get is so very valuable. Thanks for the nice words!

  • http://www.salescooke.com Sales Cooke

    Thanks for putting a clear spin on the term “listening.” I talk about listening a great deal and believe it is the fundamental key to all effective business relationships. Unfortunately, too many people believe that listening involves hearing for opportunity. I like the way you crafted the explanation. Look for a continuation of these thoughts in my blog (http://www.salescooke.com)

  • http://condiminds.tumblr.com/ Lucila

    Hi Spike!
    Great post! I work with enterprises and teaching them how social media can be used for their benefit. Listening consumers and employees is one of the most common uses, but not all of the enterprises are ready to listen what their employees have to say! As we always say: implementing this tools should be part of a change on the strategy of the organization, you can’t give them a voice if you are not ready to listen to them!
    I have some releated posts on my compañy’s blog http://condiminds.tumblr.com/ you can visit any time!
    Thanks for the post Spike!

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  • http://www.thedanielsgroup.wordpress.com Jami

    This is a good point, and to further your thought, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the right question. Like, it’s important to listen, and to “hear” what people are saying. But what is the right question to get to the answer you need to listen to?

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  • http://www.radian6.com Amber Naslund

    Hi Spike – thanks for the really great post (and sorry for the delayed comment).

    There’s value in listening to specific things – brand mentions, or competitive mentions, or the equivalent – but you’ve sure got it right. I call this “listening beyond your brand”, but it’s all about what you talk about. The idea that you have to understand there are conversations, dialogues, and interactions that you want to be part of, and the whole point of listening is to pinpoint them. Otherwise, you’re just an observer, and you’ve got nothing worthwhile to act on.

    As always, thanks for adding a voice of clarity.

    Best,
    Amber Naslund
    Director of Community, Radian6
    @ambercadabra

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  • http://www.scoutlabs.com Erin @ Scout Labs

    Thank you for the mention!

    At Scout Labs, we love when clients take action – the data helps build the road map but engagement is about connecting with people.

    For more great tips about “Listening” check out Jeff Sass’ (@jeffsass) video blog from the Social Media Jungle at the Consumer Electronics Show – really great tips in here. I saw it in person and it was really worth seeing again.

    http://www.vimeo.com/8699231

    Happy Scouting! Erin at Scoutlabs dot com
    @erinkoro

  • http://leadersintheharvest.wordpress.com Ethan

    This is good.

  • http://www.jornab.com/ Bridget Decicco

    Alot of the time i see pages with silly comments and thought wouldn’t it be nice to be one.. Nice blog found you via google. Will check back. See what other jems you post.

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