One of the most consistent complaints we come across when meeting prospective clients, and the reason why many seek new PR help, is that their previous agency didn’t listen. How much business is lost over this seemingly obvious action…or lack thereof? I can’t think of one industry that is immune and yet the challenge continues. How do we solve this? More importantly, can it be solved or is it simply in our nature to believe we are so smart that we can provide the answer to a question that we have not even heard? Or that we can recommend a solution without fully understanding the other person’s challenges and issues?

I will admit I have very little patience when it comes to lack of listening. It’s kind of a “thing” with me. Like everyone else, though, I see this problem across every facet of my life and on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong, I love to wax poetically about my favorite things as much as the next person, but when it comes to investing time and money into something of importance, I see very little return on my investment if I know I am not being heard.

Not to sound cheesy (or as if I just watched Oprah), but we are constantly being reminded to live in the moment, for it is the most important time we have. If we aren’t thinking about tomorrow, or reliving yesterday, perhaps we can better focus on the present, the here and now. If we try to make this effort a bigger priority, maybe we will find it easier to open our ears and our minds to really envelop what the person sitting across from us is trying to communicate. How hard can it be?