Marketing, babies, and a hearing lesson. Every notice how much better your hearing is and continues to get right after your children are born?
What is it? There’s this natural phenomenon that occurs when you become a new parent.
It doesn’t matter if you used to sleep like a stone, could have slept through the building falling down around you, or needed 2 alarm clocks set at two different times and different distances from the bed to rouse you in stages in the morning, but when you become a new parent, you start to hear everything.
Was that a cough? Bam, “I’m up, I’m coming . . ”
So, what does that have to do with marketing and marketers? . . . .
My take on it is as follows, your mileage may vary . . .
A couple of very natural factors are in play here, one is of course, it’s new. Not to be underestimated or overlooked.
1. When something is new, you pay more attention to it.
Simple human nature, nature is simple, don’t know about the human.
The danger is that after the newness, and I’m sure you’ve witnessed this sort of thing, you start to hear even less.
Ever been around someone who was with their kids, and the kids are going wild, but no one seems to notice? Yep, the newness wears off, and you start to relax, and not pay as much attention to what is going on around you.
Sure, when there’s an event, you notice. Same in marketing, a customer buys a big package, asks for a refund, or complains about your product or service, you start to notice again.
Key here is to tune back in at least every once in a while (Kind of the baby-monitor that isn’t on all the time, just now and again).
Honestly, you can’t keep that same level of interest in your customers, or baby for that matter, and I’m not sure it’s really that healthy anyway.
Remembering to tune back in every now and then, or just ask what’s going on is a healthy thing, for both parties.
2. Is you usually make a conscious effort to hear more.
While also very simple, it’s also very powerful.
Telling yourself you ‘will’ do something, even if it is ‘hear the slightest sound in the middle of the night’ has a very powerful effect on you and will increase the likelihood of you accomplishing that algebraically.
Remind yourself to listen in to what your customers and prospects are doing and saying.
Tell yourself you will hear them.
You will.
And you will both benefit, much like the new parent.
I think I just heard the house caving in . . . gotta go