By michael cruz
Sam Walton (Walmart founder) famously said “If you don’t listen to your customers, someone else will.” Too often we speak with customers without the intent to hear. We want to ‘tell’. The best sales people ask questions and then shut up. It is not by accident that listen and silent have the same letters.
Often business owners ask me what I think of an idea for a new product. My advice is always the same. ASK your customers. They can validate your idea. Or not. We don’t often ask questions that we do not want to hear the answer to. Or more accurately, hear what we consider to be the wrong answer. Listening is the core or learning. We never learn when we are talking.
