“A pair of good ears will drain dry a hundred tongues,” wrote Richard Saunders, the pen name of United States founding father Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard’s Improved Almanack of 1753. Truer words were never spoken.

• Listening provides feedback that can be used to measure attitudes and track behaviors. Listening begets understanding which begets trust. Listen to all of your consumers, which includes even those of your competitors as well as your employees, to earn their trust and eventually their commitment.
• Stanford professor Itamar Simonson cautions against accepting feedback from consumers without skepticism; however, Simonson is explicitly referring to the use of surveys. Listening is a skill that goes beyond surveys. If sending out surveys is all you’re doing, you’re not listening.
• When do you listen? How? Who listens? The short answer: keep your ears to the ground when people talk. Listen by engaging consumers in conversation. Everyone should be paying attention. Marketers and those charged with facing consumers are best prepared and should collaborate.

When I was a lad, I wanted to be a ninja. The most famous lesson of ninjutsu I learned was to not waste breath on trivial chatter, to speak only when you have something important to say. The rest of the time, you just listen.