Most anyone with some understanding of human communications will tell you what the most important thing is. You need to be a good listener. In business, if you listen to your customers you will learn about them. You’ll learn about their needs, their interests and their concerns. If you actively ASK them about such things – and listen with an open mind – you have an opportunity to partner with them.

The internet can give you many different ways to “listen” and get a better understanding of their needs. This puts you in a better position to respond helpfully and it can give you a competitive advantage. Some ways this can be done include:

• Comment, suggestion or feedback forms
• Polls and surveys
• Allowing them to comment in response to your blog posts
• Analyzing the trends found in the traffic in and around your website
• Enabling them to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about your business
• Allowing them to subscribe to your newsletter
• Allowing them to register on your site for access to additional content
• Having them register their purchases online
• Offering discussion forums on various topics

Web users are much more sophisticated than they were just a few years ago. They expect to be able to participate on your website. And you need them to do that so they come back regularly. If your website is basically a one-way communication tool, you are more likely to be seen as indifferent and unresponsive. No business can afford that!

There are many more ways to use the internet as a listening tool. Just contact us for a no-obligation discussion how we can help you with your business web needs.