You are given two ears and a mouth for a reason, so that you listen more than talk. That is what we are told as a kid and something we should be reminded of as an adult.
For those of us who have gotten by on the strength of our opinions and are even getting paid to give them, sometimes listening can be difficult. I recently completed a logo for a client where I was struggling to get the design right. Because of the concept the logo was based on, visual balance was an issue.
This issue was resolved by listening. I went back to the client’s design brief and thought about the design. I had decided, in my infinite wisdom, to shorten the client’s business name. Now this effort was not misguided out of bad motive, in fact, it was in an effort to make the logo more sleek.
When I went back to the brief, I retried the logo design with more of the businesses name and it fixed all of the balance issues. Listening is one of the most importants of a marketer’s business or of a consultants business.
This was a good and clear reminder that listening is sometimes more important than doing.
