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Friday 29 July 2016

Listening: The Secret to Success


Success is a relative thing, and it’s rather hard to achieve unless some important secrets are deciphered. One of those secrets of success for a company is listening to the customers as nowadays the customers are not passive recipients anymore, the internet and the surpass of information available have turned them into people dictating their own rules.

My friend started a business of electronics about a year ago. Well, he started off as a small electronics shop, but my friend’s unique business talents and ability to work with customers carved his way up to success. He recalls a particular customer, a pensioner, who visited the shop and bought an earphone costing about $19. This is not very cheap, so he mentioned that he was actually paying a good deal for an earphone and it better be good. The shop consultant ensured him that it indeed was, so off he went.

Next day as my friend says he heard a noise from his room in the corner of the shop and hurries to consultant desk. There stands the old man cursing about and waving his hands in anger, shouting that the earphones he had purchased were broken (in fact when he bought it, they weren’t), and the consultant shouts back at him that he broke it and now tries to put the blame on the shop, and that there was no way he would get his money back. This made the old man even more furious, and he shouted that he would tell all his relatives and everyone he knew not to buy any single product of that particular shop.

My friend, who had been standing a little far and observing the developments, then comes near, introduces himself as the director and asks what’s the problem. The old man goes on with his story in the angry tone but my friend’s soothing tone and calm, relaxed manners soon calm him down. He takes the broken earphone away from the old man, accompanies him to the section of earphones and tells him to choose any of the earphones regardless of price, and offers to return his money back.

People in the shop curiously gather around them as the old man chooses one of the best earphones. He thankfully shakes my friends hands, denies to take the money back and leaves the store.

The next day my friend brings me the daily newspaper with the cover story of what happened in the shop! The old pensioner turned out to be a journalist of the local newspaper, and expressed his gratitude in that specific way. No need to tell that from that day on this shop was the most competitive one in the area, and the business flourished.
My friend then started to use social media and social networking sites to get the success going on.He started using social media shares to outspread its services and products. Creating a fan page on Facebook, where hundreds of people clicked on “Like” and got introduced to his products and services, helped to gain customer reviews and opinions, so this way he knew for sure what their feedback was, what new suggestions and ideas there were for him.

This was a great way of listening to your customers, and the results showed up immediately. No need to mention how a smart business person can get this huge profits and benefits, as well as more importantly, the company’s goodwill by just listening to it’s customers.

In the end, the Customer is the one who is always right!

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