Importance of listening for entrepreneurs
Enthusiasm is a great attribute. In many countries, speaking up and speaking often is thought to be a key requirement for leadership and sales. But if you are an entrepreneur starting up, you will need to talk less about your ideas and learn to listen extremely well. This post discusses the importance of listening for entrepreneurs.
The ability to actively listen to customers, distributors, and people knowledgeable about your product are worth its weight in gold.
Three important lessons are worth understanding.
- When you listen to people, your brain is very good at recognizing what you want to hear and ignore things you don’t want to hear. The best way to avoid this unconscious bias is to take notes. Take notes about the good, the bad, and also about things that are not being said but hinted at.
- Bad interviewers and listeners will acknowledge what the respondent is saying too early. This is something you should avoid. It’s better to fail to acknowledge what the interviewee is saying rather than fill in the blanks with your assumptions.
- Interviewing is a lot like a psychiatrist listening to their patients. More often than not, you should say nothing and continue to listen.
- Always ask questions about the past and present but not about the future as people often can only speculate. You can ask questions about problems customers are facing or have faced and whether they have tried to solve the problem/s. Ask the questions and then keep quiet & listen.
How to talk to experts in your field?
It’s often a good idea to test out your ideas on people who have experience as users, buyers, or developers of similar products. When you do, there are 3 traps that you can run into.
The first trap is that the hotter your idea, the more novel your technology, the easier it will be to get into talk with customers, clients, and consulting firms. But in most cases, their agenda will be discovery rather than purchase. So they will show a lot of enthusiasm but will feed the ideas to a major player and buy from them to minimize risk.
The second trap is talking to people who have done it and seen it all. A lot of these people are jaded with past beliefs and experiences. They have difficulty in considering the that world may have changed because buyers are different, consumption patters have changed, technology adoption and costs are different. These people are still a useful resource as their lessons are very valuable. The challenge is to separate the right feedback from the wrong ones. A key way of getting value from the conversation is to ask what has changed in the market today compared to the market before and ask what they would do differently.
The third trap is that early tests of a product may not reveal the success, attitudes of propensity to refer of a longer term user. Such a user will have gained competence and benefits from use; they may have had experiences such as the acquisition of the product being validated by other users and high credibility reviewers.
If you have just started a business or planning to start one very soon, use our AI-powered business assessments to help you make fast well-informed decisions on every aspect of the business.
Also, read some of our related posts:
- How Important Is Having Passion In Business?
- Should you quit your job to start a business?
- How to avoid burnout as a startup founder or business owner?
- How to overcome the fear of starting a business?
- How to suck less at handling conflict as a CEO?
- How to get rid of burnout, exhaustion & depression as an entrepreneur and build your dream business?
- Who is a startupper and how to be one?
- Business networking for entrepreneurs
- How to get started with sales as a founder when you’ve never done it before?
Frequently Asked Questions: Actively Listening to Customers, Distributors, and Experts
Q: Why is actively listening to customers, distributors, and experts important? A: Actively listening to these stakeholders is crucial because it helps you gain valuable insights, understand their needs and preferences, and improve your product or service accordingly. It allows you to build better relationships, make informed decisions, and ultimately achieve success.
Q: How can I avoid unconscious bias while listening? A: One effective way to avoid unconscious bias is to take notes during conversations. By jotting down important points, both positive and negative, and even the unspoken cues, you can maintain objectivity and capture a comprehensive understanding of the feedback received.
Q: What should I avoid when acknowledging what someone is saying? A: It is important to avoid prematurely acknowledging what the interviewee or respondent is saying. It’s better to refrain from filling in the gaps with assumptions. Instead, focus on active listening, allowing the person to express themselves fully before responding.
Q: What approach should I adopt while interviewing or listening to others? A: Adopt a listening approach similar to that of a psychiatrist listening to their patients. Often, it is best to remain silent and continue to listen attentively. This approach allows the other person to share their thoughts and experiences freely without interruption.
Q: How should I frame questions when talking to experts in my field? A: When conversing with experts, it is advisable to ask questions about the past and present rather than focusing on the future. Inquire about the problems they have faced, solutions they have tried, and challenges customers are currently encountering. After asking the questions, be patient and listen actively to their responses.
Q: What are the potential traps when discussing ideas with customers, clients, and consulting firms? A: There are three potential traps to be aware of. The first is that while enthusiastic, these stakeholders may use your ideas to benefit a major player and minimize their own risks. The second trap involves engaging with individuals who may be jaded by past experiences and have difficulty considering changes in the market. The third trap lies in early product tests not fully revealing long-term user success, attitudes, or propensity to refer the product.
Q: How can I extract value from conversations with experienced individuals? A: When conversing with those who have extensive experience, it is important to separate valuable feedback from outdated beliefs. To extract value, ask about changes in the market today compared to the past and inquire about what they would do differently given the current landscape.
Q: What might be missing in early tests of a product? A: Early tests may not reveal the true success, attitudes, or propensity to refer of a longer-term user. These users have gained competence and benefited from the product over time. Additionally, factors such as the acquisition of the product being validated by other users and high credibility reviewers contribute to their overall experience.
