Are you really listening?
Description:
In this week’s episode, I’m talking about the importance of really listening to your clients and making sure that you’re delivering what they really want, and not what you think they want.
I ask the question, “Are you really listening?”
And introduce you to the wonderful Nancy Kline and her book “Time to Think” that literally blew my mind and changed my life as I realised just how rubbish we all are at properly listening to each other.
"The quality of your attention determines the quality of other people's thinking." Nancy Kline.
I share with you more about what it means to get intentional about listening to people and talk you through 5 key benefits that good listening can bring to your business which are:
1) Building trust with your clients and creating a real connection with people.
2) Adding value by delivering what they really need and beyond.
3) Ensuring customer retention and fixing your leaky bucket.
4) Making sure your business stays ahead of the trends and is always looking to improve.
And
5) Strengthening your brand and reputation and helping you Future-Proof your business.
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I'm Lucy Rennie, and welcome to my Future Proof your Business Podcast.
The podcast that provides you with everything you need to know to build solid foundations and ultimately Future-Proof your Business.
I'm on a mission to share my love for small business with you and help you to enjoy the extraordinary ripple effect that comes through harnessing the power of people and relationships.
And I want to make sure that you can reap the benefits of being a business and a brand that people know, like and trust.
I'm a huge champion for small business and a massive believer in the fact that people do business with people.
This podcast is here to inspire you, encourage you and support you on this roller coaster ride that is building, growing and Future Proofing your business.
Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of The Future-Proof Your Business Podcast I'm Lucy Rennie. And today I want to talk to you about another topic that's close to my heart, but one that I think is really important and that we don't always pay as much attention to as we possibly could do or should do. And this topic is basically all about listening. And the question I'm going to be asking you today is are you really listening?
And when I say ‘are you really listening?’ I mean, ‘are you really listening?’
Okay, so why have I chosen to talk about this today? And where does that come from? And what do I mean by all this.
So just over the last couple of weeks, I've been working with a few of my clients and in various situations, and completely different context, completely different clients , completely different sort of ways of doing things, there's been a common thread, which seems to be quite seems to be happening quite a lot, the moment where I'm recognising the same kind of trends, or the same kind of things that are going on across different client bases or different areas of business. And what I'm noticing at the moment is that quite a few of my clients are having challenging situations or things are becoming a bit more complicated or difficult, more than they should be, but kinds of things are sort of happening, that really shouldn't be happening, or situations are kind of taking longer or more back and forth and things when really they should be quite simple and, you know, easy actions or tasks or projects to deliver on. And it's made me realise actually what's happening and why these things I've been asking myself, you know, what's going on? And what what can we do to improve this or stop this from happening. And on a few occasions, I've had to jump in and sort of find a solution and kind of speak to these different partners or suppliers to help them you know, move the projects along and what it's come down to is actually that these people aren't listening.
They're not listening to their clients, and they're not really listening to what their client really needs. Either they are making assumptions, and they are sort of head down, delivering something that they think that their client needs or wants, or actually they're not even going that far, they're just delivering something that they think they should be doing, or they’re doing it in a way that they think is the right way.
And so it's incredibly frustrating, because actually it’s a misunderstanding, it's a miscommunication. And actually what happens is that causes, well it could be extremely dangerous, or, you know, it can be on a scale of kind of the smallest tiniest little frustration to you know, yeah, serious implications if instructions or if things haven't been followed or communicated or delivered in the way that they they were expected to be or that they should be.
So I suppose really, that's why I thought today I'm just going to talk to you about my experience with listening and how I've kind of come to change the way I look at it or the way I can see the real value in it now and what that means and the change, or the value that we can add by really, really being intentional about how we listen, and how we create a space, a safe space for our clients or even our connections, our family, our friends, you know, it doesn't have to simply be on that kind of, you know, client supplier relationship, it it can be applied to all our relationships.
And you know, me it's always comes down to kind of the fact that people do business with people and it's all about connection and creating those relationships and ultimately, it's about how we communicate.
Okay, so I suppose really, you You know me now well enough, my background has always been about communication and working with teams in house or in businesses to understand each other to be engaged to know where they're going to communicate clearly to make sure that the message has been understood, but also to encourage that two way communication, which is what we call in academic mode, we call it excellent communication, which means that it's not just about broadcasting and talking to somebody or sharing information. It's also about receiving information and making sure that, you know, it's two way that people have an opportunity to share feedback, to communicate, you know, back to us and that we what we do with that communication and how we, how we manage it, or how we accept it, or how we listen, or how all these these different things.
Now, it was only recently when , I say recently it was over lockdown when I was working with Claire Bradshaw, and taking the ILM qualification for mentoring and coaching, that I was introduced to a wonderful lady called Nancy Klein. And I'm going to put some some notes in the show notes for about Nancy. And, genuinely, if there's one book that I recommend everybody should read, then it's Nancy Klein's book ‘Time to Think’.
Because I think it really did have such an impact on me and the way I look at things, and just really seeing the world and people and understanding a little bit more about the power of communicating, but really about listening and the impact that we can have if we can really, really learn to listen intentionally. It's huge. And Nancy is a massive advocate for this. And her book ‘time to think’ basically explains all about her theory behind that. And the importance I suppose, of giving your real attention to people. In fact, there's a quote that she shares, which is I'm going to share it with you now but I'll pop it in the show notes. It's just to get you thinking a little bit really, but basically she says the quality of your attention determines the quality of other people's thinking. And what Nancy is about really is about listening to such an extent that actually by giving somebody your full attention, without jumping in without listening to reply without kind of thinking, ‘oh, yeah, that's right’ or ‘No, that's wrong’ .. ‘and this is what I want to say’ And just constantly thinking about what we want to say and what what's happening, but actually just giving that space for somebody to actually share their thoughts, their opinion, what they think, without judgement, and without coming up with a reply makes a massive impact and actually allows people to increase their ability to think properly, because they're not worried about being interrupted, they're not worried about whether they've got enough time and worried about if somebody else is going to speak or all those things, it allows people to have a much better quality, a higher quality of thinking.
So with that in mind, when you start to understand this and the power of really keeping your mouth shut, biting your tongue if you need to, and just allowing somebody to share their thoughts. And then just asking them, you know, questions like, ‘and what else’ or even just not jumping in the moment that they finish talking, but just sort of sitting back for a second.
It's actually mind blowingly incredible. The impact and what happens. You can see it that people get lost in their thoughts. And then we'll come back and we'll add more. And because you've not jumped in, it allows people to think almost to have that time to think and then to share what they're thinking to share their, their thoughts with you. It's mind blowing.
And so once you start to notice this, you can't help it, you can't once you know it, it's one of those things that once you've seen it, you can't unsee it. And so everywhere you go, you notice how rubbish we all are, but actually listening. How rubbish we are and actually listening to people intentionally and actually really listening and not listening just to kind of give our opinion or jump in or, or say ‘no that's not right’, or whatever it might be.
So I'm going to ask you guys, the same thing really is to notice, just watch what goes on at the family table with your friends at the pub, at a meeting with a client or with your team and just watch do people actually really listen to each other? Or actually, are they listening to talk themselves or to share? I don't want to make this a long episode today. I just want to bring it back to how I started it in the fact that this is about really listening to your clients.
As a small business owner, and making sure that actually what you're delivering and what you're working towards, or what you're creating, or you're selling, is exactly what that client needs or requires or wants from you.
Okay. And that's not to say that you can't challenge and, you know, discuss the needs and come up with the best solution. And that's, that's a whole topic for another day. But we really need to make sure that actually we're getting under the skin of our clients, and that we are actually asking them and checking and making sure that actually what they are wanting from us, is what we're delivering. And I promise you that just in itself will make a massive difference.
The other reason, or the other thing that I want you to think about in terms of running your business, with regards to your clients is just listening to them anyway, in terms of what's going on in their lives getting under the skin, noticing what they're talking about, what's keeping them awake at night? What are their challenges? What's going on in their world? And just listening. Yeah, just asking maybe questions about, you know, how's it going, what are the challenges at the moment, you know, just and then listening to what they're they're saying, or what they're sharing, or what they're talking about, because that can really, really, really help you to inform how you behave with them, how you show up, but also how you deliver what you deliver to them to enable you to add more value and to really help them to get the results that they want.
So it's just a short episode today. And I'm just going to finish with a kind of come up, you know, me, I like to come up with a list of things. So I've come up with five things, five reasons, I suppose why I believe that if you can really harness the power of listening, if you can really kind of notice how this is showing up for you and and really make a conscious effort to spend more quality time listening to your clients to your team, it works, your family, any any of your key stakeholders that I these are the five reasons that I kind of came up with just really quickly to kind of show you how important it is.
So the first one is, by really listening, we can really help to create that trust, okay. So, you know, me, it's always about people doing business with people. And so by asking questions, or just simply listening to people and giving them that safe space to share what's going on, or to talk about it or to, you know, to share what they want, or what they're thinking or where they are at, allows that connection, which ultimately leads into that trust, okay, so that feeling of trust, that feeling of being able to, you know, have that space, safe space, and that people you know, are listening to you is huge for the long term benefit of your business, but also for the relationships with your clients or with your key people. Yeah, you know, what I think about trust.
The second point is, it's about value, but it's actually about, you know, actually, if you, if you can properly listen and understand what your clients are looking for, then you're going to deliver exactly what they need, and not go off on a tangent or not go head down. And kind of into a tunnel of just kind of doing what you think is right, and what what they need, and then coming up with these frustrating situations where we're not being able to move forward, because we've got to stop doing something that we shouldn't have been doing. So it's all about adding that value to your clients and doing things in the right way. And again, by listening to where they’re at you can maybe add extra value because you've noticed something or you've seen something that maybe they've not been able to communicate to you or they've not even been aware of themselves, but you can go in and, and and deliver that for them.
The third one comes down to retention. And so what I talked about my leaky bucket, but ultimately we want to be making sure that we're looking after our clients that they become loyal that they want to stay with us that they feel like we care about them, that they you know, they're getting a good service, all those good things that make them want to stay with us and keep coming back for more comes down to listening really to their needs to how they're feeling to feedback to how we can improve to how they've experienced working with us, etc.
The fourth one is all about evolving, and keeping up with what's going on. And you know that we live in a VUCA world don't we so it's volatile, there's, it's, you know, it's ever changing. There's all sorts of things that are going on all the time. And so we need to make sure that we're keeping up and that we're delivering on what we should be doing to meet the needs of our clients and our key stakeholders, our team, etc.
So, by really listening by keeping our ears to the ground by listening to, you know, all different channels by being aware of what's going on the conversations that have been had, the difficulties, the challenges, the things that are happening, we can make sure that we're then driving our business and keeping up with the changes. So, you know, continuously improving or developing our services in line with what we can hear in what's going on in the wider context or the wider environment.
And again, if we know that our clients are having challenges with a certain aspect, it might be tech it might be whatever it might be, you know, the sooner that we can notice that and the sooner we can start putting plans in place to be able to deliver or to meet those needs, the quicker we're going to be able to do that. And obviously, the quicker we're gonna be able to add value and that feed into the leaky bucket and all those things.
And so finally, the fifth point, which is really important for me, you know that this is, you know, ultimately what I want you guys to be able to do. But if you can really listen to what's going on in your clients, and really deliver and deliver on all those other four points, then ultimately, you're going to future proof your business because you're going to be able to keep up with the the challenges, you're going to be able to face whatever is being thrown at you. But ultimately, you're going to build that bank of trusted customers that love everything about what you do and will shout about you from the rooftops.
So to finish, I'm just going to challenge you to notice. Just to watch what's going on, have a think about how you show up, how do you listen, whether that's at home with your husband, or your wife, or with your girlfriend or with the kids. Actually notice how you're doing it and make a conscious effort to just listen and not chip in and just see what happens, the impact that that has on the people around you. And I promise you, it will be life changing for you. And once you've seen it, you can't unsee it.
So my challenge today is to notice what's going on and see how you can apply that to your business and encourage your team or your partners or your freelancers or whoever you're working with to do exactly the same thing and make sure that we're really listening. And that we're really allowing our people to communicate and to share with us their thoughts and how they're feeling and what they're doing. Because I promise you it is going to make a huge impact on not just our businesses, but on our connections and the relationships that we have with the people around us.
So on that note, I'm going to leave you, I'm going to pop some links in the show notes for you to go out and have a good dig around and really go get Nancy Klein's book and have a good read of it. You can either read it or there's an audio version. But it's a brilliant book and it will change your life. And let me know how you get on. I'd love to know how you feel and what you notice. And I'm sure you'll be like me in the beginning and just kind of like Wow, gosh, we really are rubbish at listening to each other. Thanks for listening. And I will see you all next week for another episode of The Future- Proof Your Business Podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Future Proof Your Business podcast. I've been your host, Lucy Rennie, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, then I'd love you to head over to Apple Podcast, Google Play, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcast and hit the subscribe button. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review and a rating and help me to reach even more small business owners like you who want to build a business they love.
And don't forget, you can head over to iamlucyrennie.com and sign up to my email list as well as find more tips and tools to help you Future-proof your Business on my website and in the show notes.
Finally, I'd love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you. In my free Facebook group, Communicate with Purpose.
You can find all the links on my website and in the Show Notes.
Resource Links:
Nancy Kline - Time to Think - https://amzn.eu/d/56bPnOc
https://www.iamlucyrennie.com - free downloadable resources, other episodes and free downloadable resources
Join my mailing list - https://www.iamlucyrennie.com/podcast
Join The Future-Proof Club® here - https://go.lrcomms.co.uk/future-proof-club
I would love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you in my FREE Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CommunicatewithPurpose