--- title: 7 Ways to Hear You What Your Customers Are Saying description: Seven ways to hear what your customers are saying. image: https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/customer_communication%2c_listen_to_customers-resized-600-1.jpg --- [![Todd Hockenberry, Inc.](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2015_NEW_Site/todd-hockenberry-inc.png?width=188&height=75&name=todd-hockenberry-inc.png "Todd Hockenberry, Inc.")](https://www.toddhockenberry.com) ## Welcome to my Blog [Blog Main Page](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog) ###### Posted by [Todd Hockenberry](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/author/todd-hockenberry) ● Nov 01, 2009 # 7 Ways to Hear You What Your Customers Are Saying Everyone wants to grow their top line, right?  How many of you are talking to your customers on a regular basis?  I mean really talking to them.  Here are 7 ways to hear what they are saying. 1. Check out their posts on various social media.  Oh, your ![customer communication, listen to customers resized 600](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/customer_communication%2c_listen_to_customers-resized-600-1.jpg?width=200&height=265&name=customer_communication%2c_listen_to_customers-resized-600-1.jpg)customers are not participating on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, blogs, of any one of the other social media outlets -- wrong, they are using it; you are not putting in the effort to find them. 2. Offer a forum for them to talk to you on their terms.  See above. 3. Give value through webinars or other online vehicles and ask them for feedback. 4. Call them and ask them about their business and listen– not try to sell them something.  Make a plan and have a series of questions ready to ask.  Find out how they are changing their buying processes to deal with changes in technology and economic conditions. 5. Read everything online about them.  I am shocked at how few companies study their clients in depth and with regularity.  Take them for granted at great peril. 6. Bring them into your planning process and let them tell you what they think or you product development or latest service offering BEFORE you try to sell it to them. 7. Show up on their doorstep (or at least meet them at trade shows or industry conferences – this may be the best reason to attend a show) and ask them to tell you how you are doing.  I know this is time consuming and expensive but so is new customer acquisition. Don’t ever lose face-to-face touch with your customers. Topics: [Sales](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/sales) - Share - [**](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/bid/46019/7-ways-to-hear-you-what-your-customers-are-saying) - [**](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/bid/46019/7-ways-to-hear-you-what-your-customers-are-saying) - [**](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/bid/46019/7-ways-to-hear-you-what-your-customers-are-saying) ### Comments #### Subscribe New posts delivered to your inbox. [![Subscribe to The Industrial Executive Newsletter](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/68380/f31969c4-4b8e-4b21-b07d-d162a0bb7037.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/68380/f31969c4-4b8e-4b21-b07d-d162a0bb7037) [![New Call-to-action](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/68380/7870cf73-1b30-4fbb-9cb0-432ae1436d50.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/68380/7870cf73-1b30-4fbb-9cb0-432ae1436d50) [![Buy Inbound Organization Now](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/68380/04bc18a8-8e65-4f5d-b482-fad0e93684e8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/68380/04bc18a8-8e65-4f5d-b482-fad0e93684e8) [![The Industrial Executive Podcast - Listen Now](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/68380/4ccd1db9-083d-43dd-aa82-7dc25629198c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/68380/4ccd1db9-083d-43dd-aa82-7dc25629198c) #### Related Posts [What Does an AI Department Look Like for a Manufacturer?](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/what-does-an-ai-department-look-like-for-a-manufacturer) [How AI Agents Are Changing B2B Buying for Manufacturers](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/how-ai-agents-are-changing-b2b-buying-for-manufacturers) [The Reason AI Writes Garbage For Your Business (And What We Build Instead)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/the-reason-ai-writes-garbage-for-your-business-and-what-we-build-instead) [Digital Marketing Strategy for Manufacturers](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/digital-marketing-for-manufacturers) [What AI Can't Replace: Protecting Your Human Advantage](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/what-ai-cant-replace-protecting-your-human-advantage) [The Total Solution Trap: When Your Best Differentiator Is Your Best-Kept Secret](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/the-total-solution-trap-when-your-best-differentiator-is-your-best-kept-secret) [How to Market a Manufacturing Company](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/how-to-market-a-manufacturing-company) #### Topics - [Marketing (174)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/marketing) - [Inbound Organization (121)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/inbound-organization) - [Sales (97)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/sales) - [Manufacturing (91)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/manufacturing) - [Content (43)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/content) - [Inbound2Grow (32)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/inbound2grow) - [Company Culture (20)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/company-culture) - [Industrial Executive (18)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/industrial-executive) - [SEO (18)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/seo) - [Leadership (12)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/leadership) - [Case Studies (11)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/case-studies) - [CRM (10)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/crm) - [Mission (8)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/mission) - [Tradeshows (8)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/tradeshows) - [Customer Service (5)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/customer-service) - [AI (3)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/ai) - [Recruiting (1)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/recruiting) - [Roofing Contractor Benchmark Group (1)](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/topic/roofing-contractor-benchmark-group) [See All Topics](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/bid/46019/7-ways-to-hear-you-what-your-customers-are-saying#) [Home](https://www.toddhockenberry.com) [Case Studies](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/case-studies) [Resource Library](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/resource-library) [Blog](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog) [About](https://www.toddhockenberry.com/about)     ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Todd Hockenberry", "url" : "https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/author/todd-hockenberry" }, "dateModified" : "2023-08-09T15:24:43.225Z", "datePublished" : "2009-11-01T04:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "7 Ways to Hear You What Your Customers Are Saying", "image" : [ "https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/customer_communication%2c_listen_to_customers-resized-600-1.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.toddhockenberry.com/blog/bid/46019/7-ways-to-hear-you-what-your-customers-are-saying", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.toddhockenberry.com/hubfs/2015_NEW_Site/Todd-Hockenberry-Inc.png" }, "name" : "Todd Hockenberry, Inc." } } ```