When you hire, who do you look for? I’m guessing you hire people whose education and experience have made them knowledgeable in their fields. That’s how successful businesses build their teams. The deeper the expertise, the more value persons can contribute. They will be instrumental in solving problems and innovating products and services – if you listen to them.
One of the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic has been the confusion of not listening to what experts have to say. And yet, we owe them a lot. Epidemiology experts developed vaccines. Logistics experts set up systems to distribute those vaccines, safety equipment, and food. Technology experts devised virtual meeting technology that kept many of our businesses afloat and families connected when they could not be in person. The list goes on.
There is no industry in which ignoring experts is smart. You wouldn’t hire someone with years of engineering experience, for instance, and then tune out their cautions about a potential structural defect in the bridge you are building.
On the other hand, wise experts listen to people, too. That’s how they research, and that’s how they know where problems exist and what solutions best meet real needs.
You are the leading expert of your own business. But that doesn’t mean going it alone. Follow these four listening tips to enhance your leadership and business development. Integrate them into your culture and CRM strategy for maximum impact.
Whom should you listen to?
Listen to your people.
Consider your employee's experts on their own experiences – because that’s what they are. Find out from them which of your processes are working well and which ones need to be finetuned or even overhauled. Learn from your staff what they need to be successful in their jobs. They will feel valued when they can see that you are sincerely interested in their perspective and then act on it. Enlist them in strategy sessions.
Train them, in turn, to listen to customers to find out what they value about the products or services you offer as well as what customer experience they expect. The more data they can capture in Creatio low-code CRM about all your processes and customer interactions, the more valuable the analytics you’ll have to inform your decision-making – which will make you an even better expert!
Listen to experts.
Call them by any other name – specialists, consultants, coaches – but do call on them. Leveraging your own strengths means knowing when to ask for insights from others whose expertise can complement your own as you take your business into the future you envision. For instance, an expert CRM partner will be an invaluable resource as you create your customer relationship strategy, choose and implement your Creatio CRM, and maximize its benefit as an accelerant to your business transformation.
How should you listen?
Remain agile.
Experts sometimes change their conclusions. This does not make them unreliable. It just means they re-evaluated when they discovered new information. As you continue to learn, you will also continue to refine systems and processes. Low-code technology will be an excellent tool as it is highly adaptable to flex with inevitable changes.
Remain teachable.
As the expert in your own business, it’s wise to emulate other experts who make it a habit to continue to listen to others. They value research that involves surveying thousands of real-life participants about their experiences related to the subject at hand. Creatio CRM has the capability of doing the same from your database, resulting in up-to-date knowledge about your constituents.
A large part of wisdom is realizing how much we don’t know. Lifelong learners make the best leaders. Because they realize they do not have complete knowledge in all subjects, they continue to collaborate with and learn from those they respect in other fields.
The most trustworthy and beneficial results occur when people listen to the experts and experts listen to the people. Build both into your agile CRM strategy for a digital transformation that will carry your business into the future.
Whether you are ready to consider an expert CRM partner or have some questions you’d like to ask first, we invite you to contact us. We’re ready to listen. 269-445-3001
Topics: Risk Reduction Accelerate Business Transformation Make sense of what you face
