When your customers talk to you, do you hear them or listen to them? There are subtle differences to look for between hearing and listening to your customers.

I will use a tongue-twister I came up with a while back as a great example.

Tai Chi, Chai Tea

The phrases when said quickly sound very familiar, but have very different meanings. If you are only hearing your customer you may incorrectly interpret what they say.

Are you ready for the ultimate one test quiz to find out if you are hearing or listening to your customers?

1. Are you tracking and taking action on feedback from your customer base?

If you answered, "No", do you understand why things are falling through the cracks? Hearing is a passive activity. You don't have to actively be paying attention to hear what someone is saying. This behavior can create several potential customer service related issues.

• Customers may think you are actively ignoring them, and that leads to customer frustration and potentially losing loyal customers. This could be due to no response back after they have left a concern by email or voicemail.

• Customers may think you are just letting them vent. This may be especially true if you give stock answers or responses.

• Customers may think there is a lack of internal communication if they never see their issue address. This is common if there is no specific response into where this information is captured, who will see it and how it will be reviewed.

• Customers that face the same or similar difficulties more than once and receive the same response will start assuming you are not looking to improve your product or service. This is problematic because not only will customers start looking for other options, a negative perception of your company will start to spread through word of mouth by unhappy customers.

If you answered, "Yes", is your feedback tracking efficient? Are you reviewing the feedback regularly? Do you have a clear path toward improvement? Even if you are tracking and taking action on customer feedback, you should always be looking for ways to improve your process. It is always good to keep a few touch points in mind for improving your focus when listening to the customer.

• You should strive to follow up in a personal way with customers that are giving you feedback. This can be a simple phone call or an email that has a personal touch and does not seem like a stock response. Thank them for helping you find ways to improve.

• You should be transparent as possible with customers. Have you shared with them the next set of features or enhancements that are coming? Make them aware that feedback they submitted is either directly or indirectly leading to improvements they can expect.

• Be proactive with your customers. Reach out to customers who have previously given feedback. This is a great group to contact in the future to see if you are going the right direction. Try sending out a survey to collect feedback a variety customers. Remember getting feedback on what you are doing well is just as important. If you are meeting or exceeding your customer expectations don't allow those areas to faulter.

The next time you catch yourself in a conversation, remember to keep your focus in that exchange. You may be surprised at what you learn when you are willing to really listen.

Have comments or questions? Ask us on twitter @StartChucktown, we're listening.