February 13, 2009
The Practice of Conversational Listening
By: Marcel LeBrun
Words are powerful, aren’t they? In fact, words can act a lot like brands. When you hear a word, it conjures up an entire mental picture that is shaped, in part, by the culture and conversations around you. The meaning of certain words can also change over time as culture redefines them.
When you hear the word “listening”, what comes to mind?
Does your mental picture of “listening” look like a unidirectional & mostly observational activity or does it conjure up a picture of a two way conversation? Does listening require you to say something?
We talk a lot about the importance of a company developing the practice of listening (to the social web) for conversations about its brand. But what is listening?
In the first scenario, a company gathers online conversations about its brand, performs analysis, looks for insights, sends reports internally and perhaps makes recommendations on its findings. This certainly has value, but…
There is a better way.
Consider the goal of listening: Is it primarily informational or is it also relational?
When we think about this in the context of personal relationships between friends, do we set out to mainly gather information or do we see it as an important part of building the relationship?
Most people perceive someone who listens as someone who cares. This type of listening has to be visibly demonstrated; it is not passive or unidirectional. It is two-way listening. Message reception is not enough; the listener must respond.
It is conversational listening.
Conversational Listening Builds Relationships
One way data gathering is a stealth activity. You may be doing it to better listen to your customers and there is tremendous value in analyzing what you hear and acting upon it. Why stop there, however? Let customers see that you are listening by acknowledging them and strengthen your relationships too!
Conversational Listening Sends a Message
On the surface, listening seems to be about receiving. However, conversational listening sends a message: you are important to us.
Conversational Listening Personalizes Your Brand
A listening brand is an unmasked brand that is more personal and less institutional. As you listen & build trust, you will also increase the quality of the feedback you receive since people will share more openly when they observe true listening behavior.
Conversational Listening is Remarkable
So many customers are accustomed to dealing with brands that do not listen. The bar is so low that a responsive brand that actually takes the time to respond to customers is remarkable. It is an opportunity to delight customers.
The Power of Response
The online community’s awareness that you are actively listening will influence the conversation significantly. Your very presence changes the dynamics. Let people know you are listening.
If someone recommends your brand, say thank you. If someone asks a question, answer it publicly and you might even be answering several customers’ questions without knowing it. If someone complains, thank them for their feedback and seek to understand their experience. Ask clarifying questions. Apologize if the situation calls for it.
Then go even further and be a conversation starter. Ask open ended questions and learn. You will get to “hear” a lot more feedback when people know you are listening and that you genuinely want to hear what they have to say.
The Sixth Discipline
Remember Peter Senge’s BestSeller: The Fifth Discipline – The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization? Senge’s book focused on why the learning organization matters.
I think my book (don’t hold your breath) would focus on why the listening organization matters. The Sixth Discipline is conversational Listening – “The Art & Practice of the Listening Organization”. Besides, I have a thing for the number 6.
What do you think? In the scheme of things, how important is the listening organization? What are the issues with it?
Further reading on listening:
The Top 10 Reasons Brands Should Listen to Social Media
A Social Media Best Practice: The Value of Growing your Share of Conversation
(This is cross posted from Marcel LeBrun’s blog at www.mediaphilosopher.com)
The art of feedback is critical to listening, as you so adroitly point out. In our lovefest for social media, we too often forget that communication is only achieved when there’s a feedback loop.
As far back as Socrates, asking questions has been recognized as a powerful way to get to the truth. By only taking the broadcast thoughts of your customers at face value, you’re probably missing critical information. Dig deeper. Unfold the surface story. Listen for the unspoken. You can only do these things by becoming an ENGAGED listener.
Nice work, Marcel. Great launching point.
What a beautiful post on listening to the social media space. As an ICF Certified Coach and social media strategist, I have experienced first-hand the value of conversational listening and its impact on building and maintaining relationships. I am in total agreement with Scott that brands should stretch to listen at a deeper level, to hear what is not being said, to hone in on the conversation that falls between the lines. In coaching we call this “heart” and environmental listening. Thank you, Marcel. Well done.
Marcel – thanks very much for this post. You remind us of the significance of respectful response and active listening.
It is awfully easy to forget that on the other end of the keyboard there is another person listening.
It is important to listen first for you to be able to understand a conversation. Listening and speaking works together.
Thanks for the well-thought article. I'm actually at work at the moment! So I need to go off without reading all I'd like. However, I put your blog on my msn feed so that I can read even more.