You hear but do you listen?

You hear but do you listen? This is an interesting question isn’t it? The point of this question is simple, many times we hear the words and many times we think we heard the message sent but in fact we missed some critical points. There is a difference between hearing and listening and in fact there have been many books and articles written and even classes offered about how to listen. I am not going to teach you how to listen in this blog, but I do want to stress the importance of it when it comes to ECM and requirements gathering.

Here is an example. Over the years my role has often taken me into customer settings to discuss product or technology application to a business issue. At one point I was brought in to discuss the use of an imaging system within a county government. The sales person felt that the only thing left to close the deal was a white board discussion on how we would apply the technology. When I began the session, the first question I asked had already been asked by the sales person and that was one of what Line of Business (LOB) Applications would require integration with our products. The customer responded with what I already knew and there were no surprises as yet.

I then asked about the communications and desktop infrastructures since the use of Personal Computers (PC) and Local Area Networks (LAN) was not common at that time and the product we were presenting was dependent upon them. At that time, the sales person became uneasy as he was unfamiliar with the intricacies of imaging since it was so new and thus the reason for my presence. I was informed by our prospect that they did not have PC desktops nor did they have a LAN, everything was done through dumb terminals and proprietary communications connections to their mainframe systems. This was a problem and my sales sponsor was really getting a case of the nervous jitters.

I then informed our prospect that before we could discuss the imaging technology they sought, we would first have to address the communications and desktops issues, a subject the county CIO was willing to address. As we began the conversation and talked about how terminals needed to become desktops PCs and communications needed upgrading to LAN, the sales representative began to appear ill and aggravated with me. He was hearing words but did not listen to the conversation. In his mind I had blown his deal. The discussion continued and the CIO and I agreed that these areas were indeed the first of a series of projects for his overall programme. He also agreed that we should approach it on a departmental basis with assessment, recommendations, purchase and implementation in each area before the purchase and implementation of an imaging system was feasible. In fact the way he put it was, “You are the only one who has brought this to my attention. We should break it down into smaller projects to make it more manageable.” When I asked about his procurement process, his response was “I am authorized to approve departmental IT upgrade projects of up to thirty thousand dollars without having to go through a bid process. I have seven departments that will need upgrading in the form you described.” I kindly thanked him for his time ending the meeting with the promise of providing a series of project proposals within the week.

When we returned to the field office, my sales sponsor informed the Regional Director I had just blown the biggest opportunity he has had in a long time and that I should be fired. His message was that we would now lose the imaging deal since I pointed out that their infrastructure was inadequate. What he did not hear was that he now has a deal in hand, rather seven deals in hand to upgrade the infrastructure, each of which was valued at twenty-nine thousand dollars for a total of two hundred and three thousand dollars. You see, he heard the words but did not listen. When I explained the current opportunity to the Regional Director, he thanked me and let me know how much he appreciated my assistance. In the end, the sales representative understood what had happened and won the entire package including the imaging system for a total of more than $1.2 million dollars overall.

In my view, listening is the most important part of any conversation and even more so when trying to identify requirements of both a business and technical nature. It requires us to take time and ask more questions as the conversation progresses. It requires us to investigate and take notes of our findings, always asking more questions to uncover and gather more details. As was the case with this sales person, I have known many people who hear the words, but do not listen as in their minds as the discussion continues, they are already formulating a solution. If you do not listen, you will not know the real requirements and if you do not know the real requirements, you cannot possibly have a solution that will meet the need.

 What say you? How are your listening skills when doing requirements gathering? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

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Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

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Comments

[Mark Ridgwell]

It doesn't matter how much you hear or listen if the dialogue is pointed in the wrong direction.

I listen mainly, but try to always keep conversation focused in the content of WHAT needs to be achieved, HOW this is done and WHY it's important. The rest then tends to fall in place.

Best regards,
Mark