Many of the suggestions I listed in my previous post, Tips for listening and learning (http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2007/03/07/tips-for-listening-and-learning/) apply equally to any size company regardless of customer location. Listening to what customers are saying about your company online, asking them for feedback through web surveys, and interacting with them on a blog are a few relatively easy methods. And they are relatively inexpensive!

I think the biggest challenge with listening to international customers is putting their feedback into the proper context. Cultural and language differences will impact the interpretation.

To anyone out there with a similar business: what methods are you using to listen to international customers?

Thanks for raising the question, Daksh!

I agree with you that it is critical for organizations to spend time listening to customer feedback in all forms. In order to do that, we must go where customers go and either interact with them or listen as a fly on the wall.

What can smaller business owners with international customers do to improve customer listening?

However, the experience was invaluable. You can’t begin to imagine how you make life difficult for store employees until you have to work with the policies and procedures you put in place.

Similarly, at Nordstrom, we did listen to actual phone conversations between sales agents and customers, and spent time at our contact and fulfillment centers to see what the daily lives of our valuable phone/distribution center employees were like.

All of those experiences shape your thought process, when thinking of the next great marketing strategy you wish to implement.