1) The document discusses how leaders can use "agenda-less listening" to better understand what customers aren't telling them and create meaningful differentiation. It advocates having open conversations without preconceived notions to learn customers' perspectives. 2) It provides tips for conducting an "agenda-less listening tour" including creating a target list of current, former, and prospective customers, asking thought-provoking questions others don't ask, and discovering customers' "elevator rants" or raw, unfiltered feedback. 3) The insights gained from these conversations can be used to improve various aspects of the business from product development to marketing messaging to customer experience. Listening without bias is presented as a way for companies to better

1. HOW TO DISCOVER
WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS
AREN’T TELLING YOU
Bob London / CEO
Chief Listening Officers
October 2017
How Leaders Are Using
AGENDA-LESS LISTENING
to Create Meaningful Differentiation

2. 2
2012
$300M in ad spending

3. 3
“$#%!& contracts!”
“A plethora of hatred
for our industry”
ELEVATOR RANT

4. 4
OUTSIGHT

5. 5 critical
questions
for leaders
1. What’s the most
positive thing
customers say about
your company?
2. What’s the most
negative thing they
say?
5. How do you know they’d say this?
Or are you just guessing / assuming?
5
3. What’s the most
unique aspect of
your product or
service?
4. Does your target
agree? Do they find
it valuable?

6. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED BY WHAT YOU LEARN.
6

7. STRATEGIC
MARKETING GUY
1999 - 2010
CORPORATE
MARKETING GUY
1990 - 1999
7

8. LISTENING GUY
2011 - Present
15x
8

9. Companies Talk Past Their
Customers
“Themes brands
consider important
have minimal influence
on buyer perceptions.”
The Disconnect Between
Marketers & Buyers
“Tech marketers invest
in areas that IT buyers
don’t consider important
in the decision process.”
“Just 50% felt they
understood customers
well & 35% understood
their prospects.”
CMOs Admit They Don’t
Understand Their Target
YOU ARE NOT YOUR CUSTOMER
Not Statistically
Significant
“We’re a leader, not a follower!”
“So what? Can you solve my
problem better than anyone else?”
“We can solve all your problems!”

10. 10
The
Disconnect
Between
Marketers &
Buyers

11. 11
1. You are not your customer.
2. Be human, authentic and curious.
3. Ask questions others don’t ask.
4. Listen with no agenda or filters.
5. Discover and embrace the rants.
5 Rules of
Agenda-Less
Listening

12. Differentiating a 20-year old IT Services firm
We are great at
technology! The problem is, I’m a CFO,
not a techie.
So how do I not get blindsided
by the next big tech wave—and
decide whether we should
invest—or not?
We deliver great service.
It’s about our people!
Hmmm…would it be helpful if
we briefed you every 6 months
on major tech trends and
whether you should invest? Absolutely. We’re talking
“customer for life.”
OUTSIGHT
12

13. Differentiating a 20-year old IT Services firm
“Now, when we tell prospects
what we do, their eyebrows
fly off their head and they say,
‘Why isn’t my IT provider
doing this for me?’”

14. Pivoting an enterprise software company
from $0 in sales to 100 customers
Our software delivers visibility &
control over your public, private &
hybrid cloud environments…reduce
costs & better governance.
We don’t even know all our cloud
requirements yet. So there’s no
compelling reason for us to buy now.
One feature is like a programmable
light switch that turns off your
cloud when you’re not using it. We
call it “parking.” This reduces your
monthly costs by 20 – 60%.
Now that’s cool. Can I just buy
that & not the whole platform?
Um…no…
You’re trying to solve too many
problems. Is there one it solves
well?
OK, well that’s just dumb.
14

15. Pivoting an enterprise software company
from $0 in sales to 100 customers
Our software delivers visibility &
control over your public, private &
hybrid cloud environments…reduce
costs & better governance.
We don’t even know all our cloud
requirements yet. So there’s no
compelling reason for us to buy now.
One feature is like a programmable
light switch that turns off your
cloud when you’re not using it. We
call it “parking.” This reduces your
monthly costs by 20 – 60%.
Now that’s cool. Can I just buy
that & not the whole platform?
ELEVATOR RANTS
Um…no…
You’re trying to solve too many
problems. Is there one it solves
well? OUTSIGHT
OK, well that’s just dumb.
15

16. Minimal
marketing
No dedicated
sales resource
RAISED $1.7M
PIVOTED TO
16

17. A series of H2H conversations
solely to learn the other
person’s perspective…what’s
important to them…
 One on one phone
calls
 20 – 30 min. each
 10 – 15 customers
& non-customers
without bringing it back to
your point of view.
The Agenda-Less ListeningTour
17

18. Create your
target list
18
A mix of customers & prospects
o Current customers
o Former customers
o Lost deals
o Suspects/prospects

19. Subj: A quick favor if you
can
Dear (name):
I hope this note finds you
well. I’m touching base to
see how things are going
and also to ask if you’d be
able to participate in a very
brief research project we’re
undertaking.
As background, things are
going very well at
(organization name). To
make sure that continues,
we want to make sure we’re
aligned with our
customers—and that means
getting real-world
perspectives from folks like
you. We’re just looking for
your candid thoughts on a
few things.
Would you be able to have a
20-minute, one-on-one
phone conversation with
me?
If so, please reply with a
couple dates/times when
you’re free. Or you can use
this scheduling link to find a
date and time that works
for you: (use
TimeTrade.com or
Calendly).
Your involvement would be
greatly appreciated! If you
have any questions, please
feel free to reach me at
(phone) or (email).
Best regards,
(Your name)
EMAIL TEMPLATE
19

20. 1. “What are the company’s
top 2 priorities for the next 12 –
24 months?”
2. “What do you and your
team need to get better at?”
3. “Does our industry have a
reputation—good or bad?”
4. “What are we great at?
What do we do better than
anyone else?”
5. “If you had a free hour with a world-renowned
expert in our industry, what would you ask?”
20
Disruptive, thought provoking questions
your competitors aren’t asking

21. 6.
“What would
make you a
customer for
life?”
(The killer question)
“Hmmm…good question.
“No one’s ever
asked me that!”
21

22. Relax. It’s a conversation not an
interview. You want their perspective.
Let the dialogue go where they
want to go.
Drop ego, biases & defensiveness.
Breath, smile.
Be agile and iterative.
IT’S ABOUT
THEM, NOT YOU.
DON’T BRING IT BACK TO
YOUR PERSPECTIVE.22

23. “I wish we had more
________”
“We can’t keep doing
________ this way”
“I’m so tired of bumping up
against ________”
INTERNAL
WHAT DO ELEVATOR RANTS SOUND LIKE?
EXTERNAL
“Why can’t vendors just ____”
“Stop trying to be ____”
“Their software would be great if
they just ____”
“I hate writing that check every
month for ____”
• Latent, hidden, unspoken
• Raw & unfiltered
• In real words (not marketing-speak)23

24. Use the questions to find
your partner’s rant.
SOLUTION
c. What could a
vendor do to
address the rant?
OUTSIGHT
b. What are they
really trying to
tell you?
a. What is your
partner
dissatisfied with?
24
RANT

25. Preface your
pitch with the
audience’s rant
Seinfeld: “Did you
ever notice that a lot
of firms promise you
they’ll (rant)”
The Professor: “88%
of companies
complain about
(rant).”
Social Proof: “Most
companies come to
us after they’ve had
(rant) with other
firms.”
Innovator: “We
started our firm
because customers
said they needed a
way to (rant).”
25

26. Leverage these insights to improve:
• Product/service
innovation &
delivery
• Value prop
• Brand identity
• Positioning/Diffe
rentiation
• Sales &
marketing
messaging
• Buyer journey
• CX/UX
• Personas
• Content ideas
• Real customer
language (vs.
marketing-speak)
• New use cases
• Goodwill
• Case studies
• Identify problems
26

27.  Target list
 Email invitation
 Questions
 Listening tips
 Hit “send”



?
27

28. Thank you!
Customer Re-discovery Playbook
www.chieflisteningofficers.com/customer-discovery-playbook-2
1-on-1 Follow Up Session
www.chieflisteningofficers.com/book-a-call-with-bob-london
28