I tuned into a political talk show recently. I had an interest in one of the guests on the show and wanted to hear their take on a specific subject. I shouldn’t have wasted the time, because the show was filled with people talking over one another to the point you could not really hear what anyone said. The only thing I heard was the first question that was asked of the guest. From then on, it was as if no one had ears, just very loud mouths.

Is it just me, or does it seem that no one is listening anymore? Civil discourse seems to be something of ancient history. We have become a society of talkers who are very impressed with our points of view, but we are very poor listeners. This certainly is not just a political thing. It trickles into business, where know-it-alls try to shout louder than anyone who would have a differing viewpoint. When that happens in marketing, you have a problem on your hands. To be successful in marketing, you have to be able to understand your customers. If you don’t, you will be overturned by your own assumptions.

Let’s talk about assumptions for a bit and why they are so dangerous in marketing. If I make assumptions about how people will react or relate to my brand, I am either guessing at their response or I am saying something very arrogant - that I know better than they do about their likes and dislikes. You may be able to skate by for a time, but sooner or later, marketing assumptions will fail you. When they do, you will find that many customers will leave you for your competition.

The key to successful marketing is listening to the customer and building your strategy around what you hear from them. Be the ear before you ever attempt to be the mouth. They have needs that your brand can alleviate. Let them tell you what those needs are. Don’t assume you know already. After you have heard them, then you can speak to the solution your brand has for them. There is a time for every purpose under heaven, so the ancient saying goes. There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak. In marketing, your time to speak is when you have fully heard your customers’ needs.

What then? I would suggest you do one more thing before you start telling your customer how you can fix their problems. I would suggest you use one more of your senses: sight. Take a look at what your competition is doing to meet your customers’ needs too. I like to chart things out, so I would draw a circle and label it "Our Customers’ Needs.” I would draw another circle that intersects with the first circle. Label it "Our Competitors’ Solutions.” List all the solutions the competing brands offer, but only put the solutions that truly help your customers in the overlapping areas. Now draw a third circle that intersects both of the previous circles. Label it "Our Solutions.” Where your solutions intersect both the customers’ needs and your competitors’ solutions, list the offerings that are common to both you and the competition that truly help your customers. Likewise, list the solutions that help your customers, but are not offered by the competition in the place where you overlap the first circle. I want you to look at these two areas closely. Where you exclusively overlap the customers’ needs is where your primary marketing message should be built. This is what you should be saying to your customers. Where you overlap both the customers’ needs and your competitions’ solutions, ask yourself, "Are we better than the competition in these areas?” If yes, then market how you are better. Make it simple for the customer to understand, but back it up with something that speaks of the difference between their solution and yours.

One difference you can make for your customers is to listen to them. You will distinguish yourself from the pack if you do so. We live in a society full of talkers. If you are trying to be successful at marketing, be the ear before you speak.