Listening to Customers

I recently had the chance to hear Kip Knight, Vice President of North American Marketing for eBay speak as a guest of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Kip is contemplating writing a book he would entitle The Power of All of Us exploring how individuals in communities matter in the online world. This will be the first of two entries on Kip's talk--it was so rich with good content. He referred to the three V's eBay uses in hearing from their customers:

Voices- the company brings users to U.S. Headquarters in California and places them in focus groups to hear their views;

Visits- eBay actually visits (with permission) users homes to see the steps they take to sell items;

Views-on a quarterly basis, focus groups of users are polled on industry-related questions such as security.

Perhaps the methods described above by Kip will help you to gain meaningful information from your customers or stakeholders.