Active Listening: The Entrepreneur's Weapon

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How're you doing?Let's make a promise. Whenever you see this question from us, don't answer hastily. Take a deep breath, meditate about the month, and answer genuinely in your heart.Now, how're you doing? 

f all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable — and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That's how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities

Have a social listening strategy: 

Have an open mind: In the event that you're physically interacting with a customer, you must listen to their opinions with an open mind. You should eliminate distractions, resist the urge to interrupt and pay close attention to their body language. 

Also, train staff to listen to clients without prejudice.

Check-in Regularly: You may feel that your product/service is the best while your clients think otherwise. To get their feedback, you can send out short surveys or call customers after purchasing your product or using your service. As a model, Safeboda, a bike-hailing company calls customers to find out why, and how they can help whenever they cancel a ride. This little, but significant act goes a long way to retain customers and keep them happy. Bonus active listening points to note:

• Study your competitors and what they're doing right.

• Listen to understand and improve.

This August, we challenge you to listen more and speak less. That is, observe both your digital and physical business environment and create value with the information you get. 

WHAT'S NEW IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP?

! Exciting, great news here! MTN Nigeria has partnered with FATE Foundation to give MTN users 2GB worth of data to access MSME Hub. You get to access entrepreneurial resources to sustain your business without spending a dime. All you need to do is dial *460*200# or send Learn to 131 to subscribe.

Affirming the partnership, Adenike Adeyemi, the ED of FATE Foundation, remarked that “this partnership will enable Nigerian entrepreneurs have fast and easy access to essential resources...”

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