Brand : Ready, Set, Listen!

Practice active listening to obtain valuable customer feedback

As fast-paced professionals running departments or full-fledged businesses—managing people and projects and schedules and products—listening can sometimes fall off our to-do lists. We don't have time to really pause and listen well. While we may see the value in making time, few of us actually do.

We need to be intensely interested brand listeners. Listening well can certainly help us expand our brand spirit. The insights and perspectives offered by our three significant resources—employees, customers and partners—can lead to true breakthroughs. What percentage of your time do you spend listening to these important people? And just how do you do that?

Brands can practice active listening in a variety of ways. Here are a few examples of two ways companies can make listening a priority:

Face Time From the Top
In one of his first business books, management consultant Tom Peters encouraged leaders to practice "MBWA," that is, management by wandering around. Those who stay hidden in their offices, too busy to look up or out and engage in personal customer interaction, are really just plain missing out. They send a subliminal message that customer knowledge is good rhetoric and appropriate for "customer service people" but not an integrated brand practice.

Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO of LEGO, the world's fourth largest toy company, regularly meets with adult fans of LEGO. In a Harvard Business Review conversation with Andrew O'Connell, he stated: "An amazing number of grown-ups like to play with LEGOs. While we have 120 staff designers, we potentially have probably 120,000 volunteer designers we can access outside the company to help us invent. Perhaps most important, these super-users can articulate the product strengths and weaknesses that young children may sense but can't express." These interactions have become so important that LEGO has created two customer-driven programs: LEGO Ambassadors and a LEGO Certified Professionals program. These active customer-listening programs not only keep the CEO in the loop, but all members of the LEGO brand team.

Fortune magazine interviewed Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn about how he stays connected to staff and customers. "He posts questions to an employee Web site called Water Cooler, tracks customer sentiment on social media like Facebook and Twitter, attends focus groups and invites customers to the company's leadership meetings. 'One of my roles as CEO is to be the chief listener. I don't believe that the model is any longer that there a few really smart people at the top of the pyramid that make all the strategic decisions. It is much more about being all around the enterprise and looking for people with great ideas and passionate points of view that are anchored to the business and connected to things our customers care about.' "

Papa John's founder John Schnatter went out on a nationwide road trip to personally deliver pizzas to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. He combined this with a hunt for his original 1972 Z28 Camaro, which he sold in 1984 to finance his first Papa John's restaurant at the age of 22 (and yes, he found it!). After 25 years of running the world's third largest pizza company, Schnatter still never tires of direct customer interaction. He prioritizes face time with his customers and has even incorporated the acronym of P.A.P.A. (People Are Priority Always) as part of the brand's core values.

Sounding Boards
Do you ever wish you could just pick up the phone and pick a few of your customers' brains? If so, customer advisory boards are just the listening tool you need. Companies of all shapes and sizes are tapping in to the wisdom of their customers through this listening method.

McDonald's launched a mom-driven Quality Correspondent program where moms from across the country go on McDonald's field trips to learn all about the company's inner workings and behind-the-scenes happenings. Recent trips have focused on the Happy Meal, from toy development to menu choices, and the making of McCafé, McDonald's new espresso-based coffee line. These moms then report back to customers their findings via blogs and posts on mcdonaldsmom.com. This transparent mom-to-mom sounding board allows McDonald's to see firsthand how its brand is perceived and what is top of mind for moms in making fast food choices for their families.

One of my clients, Christian Brothers Services, just implemented this idea in order to get a better understanding of its customers' evolving needs as pending health care reform threatens to change the entire way benefits are delivered. The new board of advisers felt honored to be asked to participate and already shared valuable insights with the CBS managers.

I don't believe we can ever listen too much. Make this a year of deep and active listening for your brand.

Andrea Syverson is president of IER Partners, a strategic consulting company specializing in innovative brand and merchandising directions. This article is an excerpt from her new book, "BRANDABOUT: A Seriously Playful Playbook for Passionate Brand-Builders and Merchants," due out this spring. She may be reached at asyverson@ierpartners.com.

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