For the most part, business owners are desperately making sure they don't miss any opportunity to record every touch point customers have with the company. But then what?

在大多数情况，企业管理者都非常确定他们没有错过任何一个与顾客洽谈的机会，但这又怎样呢？

Turn your understanding of your customers into opportunities for real, meaningful connections with them. Listen to what they are really saying, not just their responses to surveys, but what they tell you when they do business (or stop doing business) with your company.

认真对待每一次与客户的接触，跟他们进行有意义的交流。认真倾听他们的真实所需，不仅仅是他们的调查意见，而是他们何时与你的公司合作（或中止合作）。

Your most precious asset, no matter what business you have, is your existing customers. You expended considerable effort to entice these folks to do business with you. So why not intensely focus on their behavior as they do business with you? Rather than comb through the endless data about them, talk to them.

不管你所处什么行业，你最珍贵的资产都是你现有的客户。既然你已经极尽全力获取与客户的合作机会，何不集中注意力与现有客户打交道呢？与其经历永无止境的数据，还是直接跟他们谈吧。

Talk to them when they arrive at your place of business. Talk to them when you deliver your service to them. Talk to them when they call. They will tell you what's really on their minds, and you can take that feedback and use it to improve their experience.

当他们莅临公司的时候与他们洽谈。告知他们你们何时提供服务，也可以通话时告知他们。然后他们就会告诉你他们的真实意愿，你就可以由此给出反馈从而丰富经验。

Throughout my professional life, I have lived in densely populated urban centers, so my expectations for customer service have ebbed over the past 20 years. Now I live in a rural part of the Midwest. Moving there was a lifestyle choice that I'm glad I made. As I have settled into my life away from the city, I'm having experiences that amaze me.

在笔者的职业生涯里，一直生活在人口密集的城市里，所以在这20年里，我对客户的服务期待已经逐渐消退了。如今我住在中西部地区的一个小村庄。我认为移居至此是一个明智的选择。正因为我已经远离城市，所以我更期待能够遇到使我惊艳的经历。

For instance, when someone arrives to fix a phone or repair a furnace, they are my neighbors. We talk about what's going on, and they listen to my concerns. Recently a propane delivery fellow was talking with me as he filled up the propane tank. I mentioned that there seemed to be a problem with the valve not properly reporting the level of propane in the tank.

例如，当维修手机或修理壁炉的时候，来帮助我的人通常都是我的邻居。我们会谈论是什么情况，然后他们会注意我的需求。最近有一位给燃气管加气的邻居跟我聊天。我提到了如果不能够恰当地给天然气槽加注气体会产生问题。

What did he do? The next day -- that's right, the next day -- he came back with a replacement valve for the tank. Now that was impressive. His great service didn't end there. He said, "I'll see about getting you a credit for the propane that was lost due to this faulty valve." I thought, Sure, I'll never see that. A week later, I received a notice from the propane company that a credit had been applied to my account in an amount that exceeded any expectation I had.

然后你猜猜他有接下来做了什么事情？第二天，没错，就在第二天，他过来给我更换了一个天燃气阀。真是太惊奇了！不过他的友善并没有止步。他说："我要确保你的天然气服务得到保障。"我敢保证，我从没遇到这么好的服务。一周后，我收到一封来自天然气公司的通知，上面说明我的天然气管账户已经通过申请信贷，这是超乎我的预期的。

You may be asking, "How can this type of customer listening be used in larger businesses?" Easy! Every business connects with its customers every day. Capturing these interactions and translating what customers are saying as they do business with the company will, in my opinion, prove to be more valuable than all the big data you will ever collect.

也许你会问，"大企业怎么能够像这样听取顾客需求呢？"很简单！时刻与客户保持密切联系。用心留意和解读每一处客户与公司洽谈的细节，就笔者而言， 这比任何收集的数据都有用得多。

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