If we reflected back on our lives, we’d notice that the root of some, or many, of our problems is just not listening. I once failed to assemble an item I’d bought because I did not pay attention to the instructions given, resulting in ruining a brand new gadget.
My friend, on the other hand, missed her final exam in university because she did not listen carefully to the assigned date and time. She had to overcome many hurdles before the university agreed to allow her to sit the exam.
According to research conducted by Florida State University and Michigan State University, we only retain 25 per cent of the information we hear.
When it comes to business, failing to listen could result in huge monetary losses.
In the creative field, for instance, where messages are developed to target clients, listening is a key skill. As I work in this sector, I have had to improve listening skills that were previously not so great.
Failing to listen properly could result in a failed campaign, waste of time and loss of accounts. Who would want to work with someone who failed to address their customers’ needs? The same applies to product developers and customer service representatives.
While social media has allowed many businesses to interact directly with their clients, it’s also made it even harder to stand out. Why is that? Because there is so much digital noise. When I log in to my Instagram account, for example, I process a lot of information in the few minutes I spend scrolling down a page. It’s an exercise similar to trying to listen to someone in an crowded room, as something has to be really visually attractive to make me stop and read the caption under it, or to view the other posts on its page.
Journalists often use terms such as scandal to attract readers to their articles. And when it comes video, our attention span has become shorter and shorter, with users now accustomed to 10-second videos and short sound bites. When Instagram extended the maximum time length for uploaded videos from 15 seconds to one minute, many users complained that 15 seconds was a lot to begin with.
I have written about how video sharing apps will become the more dominant social media apps, something that extends the need to become even more creative when producing content to appeal to a certain audience.
This emphasises the importance for marketers and content creators, and even business owners, to become better listeners, or more conscious listeners, to understand their customers’ needs and thus create solutions they would be interested in. Here’s what you could do to work on that:
First, practise sitting in complete silence or in a quiet environment for three minutes a day or more if you can without distracting yourself. Just close your eyes and enjoy the silence. Before incorporating meditation into my daily routine, I admit it was pretty hard to do, given that I was a person who always had to have some noise in the background.
Second, when conducting research or getting feedback from clients to work on your products or campaign, have a notebook and pen in hand to keep things in check. Towards the end of your meeting you could go over some key points and see if you have any questions. While doing that, avoid interrupting the speaker, and wait for them to finish what they have to say before you respond back.
Last but not least, our phones are perhaps the main cause of distraction these days. When in an important meeting, put your phone away and focus on whomever is speaking.
Becoming a better listener will not only enhance your business, but also your personal life.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Twitter: @manar_alhinai.
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
