THINKS LISTENING IS A STRATEGY
POSTED BY DAN YOUNG
Communication is the core of every business. Customers and/or clients have needs; they have problems they are trying to solve. Sometimes they can articulate it well, other times, not so much. We, as service providers, need to listen to how they--our customers and clients--explain their problem. We recognize that the hardest part of our job is listening well enough to extract the information we need to build solid software.
Entrepreneurs are the most susceptible to not listening. End-users, a target demographic, SMBs, use-cases etc.: these are all terms to describe aggregates of people statistically. Great. This is helpful for a business plan or pitch, but there is an underlying assumption that the entrepreneur has discussed the idea with end-users, a target demographic, SMBs, etc. In many cases, the entrepreneur has not. When a startup listens closely to their future customers as they are building a business solution, they are far more likely to make strategic changes and adjustments to the product that will help them in the long-run. All they need do is listen intently to what is being said (or not said).
