This week I had the opportunity to join many of the U.S.-based Redgaters in Austin to talk about 2024 plans, hear from the product teams, and have some much-needed fellowship. One thing was particularly clear as I listened to various leaders and product managers – the customer drives everything we do. And I have to be honest, it was really encouraging to hear how much the work that our teams do is influenced by real customers, with real needs, trying to solve real problems.

Maybe your company or team are having similar meetings and conversations,too.

Although I certainly enjoyed hearing what the teams were planning to bring to our amazing line of Database DevOps applications, I actually enjoyed the second day of meetings more than hearing about product updates. (ok, it’s almost a tie, but still…)

For day two, we had a separate room for each product team, and the rest of us went from room to room in groups. It was here that we got to talk about customer journeys, their specific pain points and challenges managing their database estates and development. The goal was to help newer employees, and even some veterans, listen better as we support our users. Too often, it’s easy to jump to assumptions about what will solve a specific need, which usually means that it can take longer to solve their problem. We were able to hear, firsthand, how the support teams and product teams guide a conversation to really draw out the underlying causes, not just the symptoms.

Having been in the software business for more than 20 years, I usually think I've learned how to listen to users and knowing how to help steer them to a solution. But I learned, sitting in those rooms, that there’s always something that everyone on the team can do to improve in this area. I’m flying home today, excited to engage even more with our users and the community, so that I can continue to learn more.

What about you? Do you have a forum and training opportunities to improve your listening skills, particularly with your users? Depending on your specific job, these may be internal users, one-off consulting clients, or millions of external users for your SaaS application. If not, what can you do to influence change in getting this type of feedback? If talking with customers is a regular part of your job, what tips do you have to help others improve?

It’s the start of a new year. Take some time to listen and learn to the users and communities that you’re a part of. I promise it will be a valuable experience.