40 The Strategic Planning Workbook Customers You can learn so much by asking good questions and then being quiet and listening to the answers. Such discussions need not be formalized research projects ­ a maître d', for instance, can learn a lot about his or her customers simply by moving around the restaurant tables. A mechanic can understand his or her customers better by investing more time at either end of the service process. A shopkeeper can ask questions to discover what customers really value. Next time you are with a customer, try asking one, or all, of these questions: How do you use our products/services (ask him or her to describe what he or she does, step by step)? What do you particularly like about our products/services? Tell me one thing we could do differently next time. What was the best part of your experience with us today? What changes would you make, if this were your business? Be careful to listen objectively. Some golden rules for listening are: