I
‘m always surprised at how many
people think they’re great listeners . .
. but aren’t.
Mere surprise gives way to real
concern, however, when it comes
to poor listening skills on the part
of customer-facing operatives
(especially business development
executives – “BDs”) in one of my client
organisations.
The discrepancy between the way
poor listeners see themselves (i.e. the
many who see themselves, ironically,
as good listeners) and the reality of
their communications performance,
has its roots in a simple distinction:
listening versus hearing.
Listening and hearing aren’t always
the same thing. Sometimes they are,
but often they’re not. It depends on
the orientation and attitude of the
“listener”.
A BD, for instance, can have many
different ways of “listening”. Here are
a few:
• CURSORY LISTENING
This is “quick and dirty” listening,
often the type of listening extended
when the “listener” is “mentally multitasking”, or not deeply interested.
• SHALLOW LISTENING
Closely related to cursory listening,
this is the type of listening that takes
place when the BD or other customerfacing operative is of the belief that
he or she already knows what the
customer/client is about to say, already
understands their problem/objective,
and/or already knows the solution
. . . or at least the solution it suits
themselves to propose.
Needless to say, this form of
listening is often underpinned by
arrogance – an attitude that has no
place in the toolkit of a sharp BD.
• INQUISITIVE LISTENING
Moving into the more productive
forms of listening, “inquisitive
listening” is the first step towards real
client-centricity, real problem-solving.
Unlike the former brands of listening,
it’s a mode in which the BD genuinely
“hears” the client or customer.
In this more (but not yet peak)
strategic form of listening, the
BD is able to gather and identify
components of information that
are critical to the formulation of a
solution. That is, of course, if the BD
is genuinely driven by the desire to
act in the customer’s or client’s best
interests, in terms of the solution to be
arrived at.
• STRATEGIC LISTENING
In this optimum form of listening, the
business development operative hears
the client at a very deep level. He picks
up on his or her key motivating forces
– the pain the organisation wants to
avoid; the rewards sought both by the
organisation, key stakeholders and
personnel; the fears; the areas in which
they seek clarity and direction over
pre-existing confusion and indirection,
and other intangibles.
In this form of listening, the
BD “listens between the lines”,
empowering himself or herself with
the ability to ask progressively more
insightful questions.
The BD that can perform at this
level is also one who understands
that information does not, in and of
itself, constitute intelligence. He or she
knows, however, that the answers to
well-considered, quality questions loan
themselves to conversion into valuable
intelligence.
The business development or other
client-facing operative who has the
smarts, the humility and the patience
to listen at this level is a potential
power tool to his or her organisation.
I say “potential” because it’s the
manner and comprehensiveness of the
information that makes its way back
through that operative and onwards to
the bid team, that will dictate its next
level of value.
And it’s how that bid team then
goes on to use it that will dictate its
ultimate, bottom-line
