Communication: 7 Reasons Why No One Is Listening To You

Are you feeling ignored lately? Do you sometimes go through your working day too busy to engage with another human soul?  Do you get the nagging thought that everyone seems to be in a world of their own? Does it seem like everyone is walking around in perfectly safe, sterile personal bubbles protected by designer headphones, mp3s, fancy watches and smart phones that no one can break into?
Ultimately do you get the sense that no one is really listening to you?

In a world of 7 billion people, you’re not alone, but this is no blog about boosting confidence, self-esteem or even enrolling in an assertiveness course. It is, however, a blog about communication, brand and the need in business to rediscover the art of listening to each other for greater understanding and brand insights.

We live in a judgemental society of over saturated brand and marketing messages. Our natural reaction is to increase our privacy filters and block out the noise for our own sanity. This is why disruption strategy is working so well.

As consumers and customer, the real skill is in knowing who and what information to open the filters to. We are, after all, hard-wired to be information gatherers and data processors. It’s just how we are but the data now available to us is akin to the floodwaters being released.

There is one powerful way to bypass those filters and provide laser-focused attention on your customer to win over their hearts and minds. Brand is your secret weapon to help break through the ‘bubble’ barriers, ‘pull’ prospects towards your business, attribute a value to your offering (and raise it beyond commodity status) and, if executed correctly, disrupt the market. Critically, brand creates and nurtures connections – emotional connections – between brands and people. Its the glue that binds.

That said, if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, maybe the reason for our perceived isolation isn’t too surprising? What if the problem really does lie with us not understanding everyone else’s struggles?

Here follows 7 reasons why you might ‘perceive’ that no one is listening:

1. People are simply too busy trying to survive, fix problems or focus on the next ‘task’ to listen to you. It’s nothing personal.
2. People are too concerned about themselves and their own lives – you’re just not on their radar (no offense).
3. People assume they already know what someone else would say – Tip: surprise them by saying something random or divisive!
4. People are preparing what they’re going to say in their heads when others are speaking. Is this you? These people often feel a crushing need to be ‘right’. They are not the type to go out of their way to listen to you.
5. ‘Selfie culture’ is shifting energy, focus and attention on superficial online relationships and external aesthetic/presentation for personal and social validation. Anxiety pervades and listening just does not factor into this dynamic.
6. People think giving advice is more important than showing true understanding and care. People need to know you care before they will listen to you. You can’t force or fake that.
7. We’re simply not taught nor do we develop good listening skills. Regular conversations out of the workplace involving an exchange of ideas are minimal to non-existent, with an overriding focus on results and performance in the workplace that erodes active listening skills.
8. You never listen to anyone else. Communication is a two-way street remember. If you aren’t listening to anyone else how can you expect them to listen to you?

Getting through to customers ‘beyond the noise’ requires laser-focus and engagement by building a brand that resonates personally with your ideal customers. Highly effective brands are only created through listening and understanding that’s built on valuable human insights. Digging deep and getting to know what makes your customer tick empowers you to know your ‘ideal’ customer better than they know themselves. And surely, that’s one of your business and brand goals?

To conclude: if you actively listen to customers first, demonstrate a clear understanding of ‘their world’ or their ‘bubble’, and match their worldview, they will truly hear when you engage them with your brand and marketing messages.

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I hope you gained some benefit or learned something new, insightful or useful in this latest Brand Entrepreneur blog.

As The Brand Entrepreneur, I’m passionate and focused on creating brand stories & developing design assets that help brands get ‘in sync’ with ‘ideal’ customers they care about. Successful brands in the future care about customers, not branding. I believe that future is now. I help busy business owners and savvy entrepreneurs to ‘market smarter’ by deeply defining their ‘ideal’ customer with The ‘My Avatar’ Workshop.

Jamie Thomas – The Brand Entrepreneur
Be the best you can be

Tags: brand, business, communications, customer, marketing