Explain to me something. Why would you call in an expert for something you need assistance with and then proceed to reject everything that expert says you need assistance with based on customized research, without having an open mind whatsoever?

It sounds crazy. Because it is.

I’m not saying you need to hire that expert. It’s your money, of course, and it’s your right to do what you want with it. Nor am I saying you need to agree with that expert. They’re coming into your world for the first time and could possibly be off on a few things.

But you do have to listen to them. If you can’t honestly listen, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

When you bring in an outside consultant, open yourself up to the possibilities that that firm may bring a perspective you had never otherwise considered. If they’re off, correct them, but remember that other points may have great merit.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know everything. But I do know a whole heck of a lot about branding and strategic planning. I’ve been doing it a good long while and I believe I’m excellent at it. Yet I also take great pleasure in learning new trends that shape how we communicate. It’s because I have that passion for listening to findings and voices other than my own that I learn and make other people’s brands better than they are today.

In other words, if I didn’t listen to others, I wouldn’t benefit myself.

I bring this up because research is a fundamental part of what we do. It drives much of our choices and it can uncover amazing insights. The information can come from countless places, whether one-on-one conversations or tons of online data. Without it, we’re just throwing words and pictures up against a wall without much rhyme or reason or, what most people call a strategy. So it’s pretty darn important.

Once in a blue moon, I’m struck by someone who doesn’t believe the research and chooses to only believe their own unscientific opinion. True, not all research is perfect. Perhaps some samplings aren’t just right or too much weight is given to this or that answer.

But when it’s a perspective that might take your brand to a new direction, which can definitely happen based on what research tells us, you owe it to yourself to at least consider the value of that research. Maybe some people do believe it and don’t want to believe they could’ve been going down a better path all this time. Maybe some are just that arrogant.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I’ve received good business from Audience A so I don’t know why you’d suggest Audience B.”

First of all, if your brand was hitting it out of the park, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So clearly, you’re not connecting that brilliantly with that audience or you wouldn’t need my help or the help of someone like me. Face up to that.

Secondly, the audience you think is your primary audience may actually be your secondary crowd all along. You can have more than one group your brand can resonate with.

Thirdly, economies shift, people get older, tastes change and priorities alter. If you’ve been doing the same thing toward the same group of people for a very long time, chances are good that you haven’t adapted while your competition has.

With that in mind, all I ask of you is this: Come to the table willing to say openly that your brand needs help. Be able to admit that. Let the expert in to share your issues and challenges. The more you can let those walls come down to show that consultant where your faults are, the better off you’ll hopefully be in terms of a solution that’s more customized to your needs.

And on the day that that consultant comes back through your door with a customized solution, listen to them. If an objection starts to build in your mind, just wait. Listen. Because if they’re speaking to the perceptions of the people who can help shape your brand – your audience – I know you won’t dismiss those perceptions blindly and quickly.

When disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was reaching the height of his scandal, his top notch defense lawyer resigned in frustration, saying, “My clients don’t have to agree with me, but they do have to listen.”

Of course, I’m sure you’re a profoundly more respectable person than Rod, but you can see sometimes that being in the company of non-listeners is not good company to be in. You don’t have to agree with people like me. But if you’re going to work with people like me, you do have to listen.

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