October 14, 2026
How To Conduct A “Listening Tour” Revisited
After my interview with Rob Walling, I thought it’d be a good time to resurface this episode of TBOA.
Here’s the original announcement:
Have you ever launched a new service, product or pivot to crickets? All that work, all that thought and then, well nada...
This week on TBOA, Rochelle and I talk about the antidote: the listening tour.
Talking Points
Why—and under what circumstances—you might want to consider a listening tour.
How to choose who to interview and increase your chances for getting a yes.
Uncovering specific belief systems and comments that you can incorporate into your sales copy.
The one question that will get your interviewees to go deeper in sharing their experiences.
Why avoiding any sort of persuasion is critical (and how to stay in listening mode).
Quotable Quotes
“It’s an ideal gig when you can basically package and sell your expertise.”—RM
“There’s something about writing, actual writing, not typing, that focuses me more on the conversation.”—JS
“My marketing copy came out of the mouths of the women that I interviewed.”—RM
“There’s just something magical about unfiltered input from the buyers’ side of the table.”—JS
“You really have to look at this as a listening tour—not a selling tour, not even a warm-up-to-buy tour.”—RM
“Obviously this whole episode is to encourage listeners to do this…but it’s also about how you’re going to communicate the offer in a way that the right people will recognize that it’s for them.”—JS
“I looked at my job (on the listening tour) as “tell me more”. How do you think about that? What made you think that way?”—RM
“You don’t want to be too rigid in your thinking and then go out and try and validate that, because it’ll turn persuasive and that’d just be gross.”—JS
Sharing is caring!
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a few friends who might find it useful. Thanks!
Yours,
—J