You weren’t listening, what did you miss?

This organization lost my business, and they didn’t see it coming.

They didn’t know that I was frustrated and had been researching alternatives. They didn’t know because they hadn’t been listening.

I had employed this organization for 5 years and although I was grateful for the services they provided, it wasn’t always an easy relationship to manage. Their price and a few key members of their staff made their client-care acceptable enough to endure the relationship.

They enjoyed significant growth over the years, and I was happy to see their client base expand exponentially as word spread.

The thing is, a wider client base comes with a wider variety of client needs and expectations, and a much higher level of client care is required. As their client pool diversified, their ability to serve those clients also needed to diversify.

The times when the service I was paying for did not meet my needs or expectations, I made sure to

explain the shortcomings as it affected me and offered possible suggestions to address the issue from my perspective. I was mindful to remain open and ready to hopefully negotiate the best outcome for all.

Unfortunately, many times my outreach was met with defensiveness, or they simply refused to respond to my concern. I was often left confused and frustrated.

I asked other clients about their customer experience and attempts to communicate with the management team, and learned that others had similar experiences to my own.

Their customer care standards were not growing and diversifying at the same rate as their growing client base.

They were not always willing to move beyond doing what they’ve always done and were unwilling to adjust the manner in which they had been doing it.

Their position was that if it worked in the past, it should still work moving forward.

For them, change felt challenging and cumbersome, and they didn’t allow themselves to appreciate other perspectives in order to see the valuable opportunity for growth.

They also didn’t see that competitors were listening and evolving their businesses to respond to consumer demands.

I have always said and will continue to say, that when a client complains it is your job to listen. Set aside your well-intentions, your status quo, and your ego to simply receive the information. No one likes to receive a complaint; it does not feel good, but it is also a gift - an opportunity for growth and evolution.

I call it a gift because many dissatisfied customers will simply not make another purchase from you, they will cancel their subscription, hire someone else for their next project and will certainly not refer or recommend you, and you will never be the wiser.

The gift of a complaint is to have the opportunity to bring true value to your client, make it right for them, and in turn, make it better for yourself. A satisfied and happy customer will happily sing your praises, be a loyal and devoted patron of your business, and you will remain top of mind for referrals.

When it came time to renew my contract with the organization, I let them know that I was considering other options. They asked to have a call with me to “hear” the reasons I may not renew.

By the end of my call with them, I was left with the clear understanding that they were unable to be good listeners. Even before I finished my statements, they were jumping in to respond; a classic sign that someone isn’t listening because they have been busy conjuring their rebuttal.

They were not listening to hear, to learn, or to understand what mattered to their clients. They listened only to defend and deflect. Their inability to listen means they have limited their ability to understand what matters most to their clients and how best to retain client loyalty.

Their inability to listen means they are missing an opportunity for business growth beyond what they can currently achieve with their current mode of conduct.

They lost me as a client and as far as referrals go, I’ll be honest in what I share about my experience, both the good (because there was definitely good) and the unfortunate.

Listening can feel uncomfortable, and constructive criticism can feel embarrassing and vulnerable, but all growth happens through a period of discomfort. Pushing through the awkwardness has many rewards.

I have been called out by others who held me to task to do better, deliver more, change the delivery of my message, show greater compassion, understand an unseen perspective, and more. It didn’t feel good, but I am better for it and so is my business.

It is worth listening to hear, understand, and have the opportunity to do better.

If you need someone to listen and give you honest feedback, you know where to reach me.

Lisa

Read more about being client-centric and the power of “No.”.