Calling all stakeholders!

Listen to stakeholders to identify their needs,

organise them in a hierarchical way, and choose
the best responses to them.

The issue
Listening to stakeholders incorrectly or not at all is dangerous: we risk To which situations does
becoming distant if our responses do not meet their expectations. this apply?
By identifying stakeholders' needs, the company will discover
relevant action areas for improving, adapting and creating value • Adapting a current service
in light of changes to the expectations of present and future • Conducting an innovative,
generations. functionally balanced product
• Carrying out a new or innovative
In addition, listening to stakeholders sheds light on latent project
expectations, enabling us to come up with innovative responses, • Guiding a decision which has
resolutely ahead of the competition, thus generating high levels an impact upon stakeholders
of satisfaction.

Key ideas
What is an
Active listening consists of collating and analysing what stakeholders, expectation?
including customers, say. Various mechanisms contribute to this:
• analysis of stakeholders' unsolicited statements in letters, An expectation is a current or
potential deficiency as
telephone conversations and complaints,
perceived by an individual or
• observation of stakeholders during seminars, club meetings, group. It is inherent in each
round tables, and so on. individual. It is expressed
• carrying out direct listening or qualitative interviews. spontaneously, and does not
emerge from analysis.
Once expectations have been identified, the company has to choose
those to which it wishes to respond. This choice is important both And satisfaction?
in terms of satisfying clients and keeping ahead of the competition.
The best-performing method was developed by Noriaki Kano, a Satisfaction is the feeling of well-
Japanese quality specialist from Komatsu. being as a result of receiving a
response which is judged to meet
expectations. Satisfaction is
The stages of active listening are as follows:
therefore a judgement or an
1. Prepare the interview (if you choose to conduct interviews) opinion which varies depending
2. Record what the stakeholder says (when interviews are on the response which the
conducted) company and its competitors make,
3. Transform stakeholders' unsolicited views, through observation or and on people's expectations.
through interviews, into expectations,
4. Classify expectations to facilitate the choice of responses to be
made (Kano method).
PR3: stakeholder listening V6 of November 18, 2011
1. Preparing the interview EXAMPLES OF
QUESTIONS
Is it important to express the maximum number of expectations in
terms of an issue? Does this avoid nasty surprises? In particular, does • What do you think of our service
this mean we can be assured that products and services are sufficient / relationship?
to meet customer needs? • How could it be improved?
• What are our competitors'
strengths?
To achieve this objective, interviews should be careful prepared using • How do you perceive responses
four essential stages: in the future?
• What should we do in future that
 Identification of the stakeholders by segmenting them in such we do not currently do?
a way as to capture the greatest number of possible
expectations.
 Selection of the stakeholders, which will vary in number GOOD IDEAS
depending on the objectives and the diagram below. Atypical
profiles should be favoured over mainstream profiles, as they • Create a transversal working
will highlight the interests which are shared most broadly, as group of between three and
well as contributing new expectations. seven people who have a
direct relationship with the
 Definition of one or two open questions to be asked. In stakeholders in question.
particular, identify sensitive questions which will provide • Choose interviewers who are
significant answers. good listeners.
 Assigning interviewers with high quality listening skills.

Example
Diagram
Conscious that the future of water
Contrary to what might be believed, expectations are socio-cultural
must be developed with and
facts which are broadly shared by a population. For example, any
'owned' by everyone, in 2010,
European buyer now expects safety mechanisms in a car (such as
Lyonnaise des Eaux, a subsidiary of
seatbelts, warning).
SUEZ Environment, launched an
Statistical studies highlight the fact that individual interviews with 12 initiative entitled "new ideas about
to 20 people who are carefully chosen based upon a typology, enables water". This was a broad
90% of expectations to be identified. stakeholder consultation and
Source: La conception à l’écoute du marché. Shiba. Insep Editions dialogue exercise, including both a
forum for new ideas about water
and a collaborative platform.
This approach enabled:
the publication of “cahiers de
l'eau", comprehensive summaries
of interviews and discussions, with
the aim of sharing ideas and
avenues for discussion with the
widest audience possible.
the proposal for a new company
strategy at the end of 2011, which
will present new internal and
external action areas for Lyonnaise
des Eaux, as well as their new
commitments for the 2011-2015
period.
Capucine Journet

PR3: stakeholder listening V6 of November 18, 2011

 Recommendation
2. Grasping stakeholders' opinions Listen without reflecting. It is
crucial to remain absolutely open
to the other person, asking a
The aim of grasping stakeholders' opinions is to explore the few open questions, picking up
interviewee's experiences and note their comments. the interviewee's ideas and
This is a difficult exercise, which cannot be improvised. It requires helping them to express their
training, experience, and preparation in order to be able to define wishes. Their current relationship
the most appropriate methodology. with us has to be explored, then
they have to be guided to
Interviews can take one of two formats: consider the future.
 An individual interview, either face-to-face or by telephone, in Interviewers must therefore be
the case of an open-ended theme, for example research into trained in interview techniques.
new services. Use two people to conduct
 A group interview (focus group or round table). This is the the interview. One asks the
preferred format for testing reactions to a draft solution, for questions, the other takes notes.
example, the location of a new site.

Interviews are based on open questions. They last approximately Example

one hour.
With the help of an experienced
consultant, Codesiom, we
Opinions or verbatim conducted a qualitative customer
Interviews do not express expectations, but voice opinions. They listening exercise. We obtained
subsequently need to be reworked. The exact words of the precise information as to what our
interview must, therefore, be faithfully transcribed during the customers want. The decision to be
interview, using the same words and the same phrases. This is taken between various options was
essential to enable analysis. therefore easier. We were also able
to explain the necessary changes
Example of an opinion which is voiced and transcribed: "The to our partners, backing this up
foundation of a good relationship with an agency is that the seller with evidence.
can provide information without needing to find someone else Today, we see that OZONIA has
behind the scenes. " succeeded in consolidating its
market position. Signs indicate that
we are on the right road.
3. Transforming opinions into expectations By putting customer listening and
customer satisfaction at the heart
of our strategy, I am convinced
If this has not already been done (through letters or written complaints,
that this will lead to growth and
etc.), the observer or interviewer (interviews, meetings, seminars,
performance in the long term.
etc.) transcribes the opinions which have been voiced in verbatim
Hubert Grienenberger,
format. The exercise consists of uncovering expectations through
DG OZONIA
the comments which have been collated.
By means of example, each interview produces on average 15
opinions, so 20 interviews provide 300, offering a wealth of
information. Of course, many opinions refer to the same
expectations.

One method consists of writing each phrase on a post-it. With a small

working group, this involves eliminating repetition and grouping
opinions together by affinity (using an affinity diagram) in order to
retain only the major expectations.

Grouping together expectations

PR3: stakeholder listening V6 of November 18, 2011

4. Classifying expectations IMPLICIT OR
Identifying expectations which are broadly shared and those which are COMPULSORY
less-widely shared enables us to guide the company's EXPECTATIONS
responses: What systematic specifications do our products and
services call for? What additional services can we link together? This refers to those expectations
Identifying new or latent expectations enables us to differentiate which stakeholders normally
the company from its competitors by offering proposals which will expect to find in a response. If a
pleasantly surprise stakeholders. response is not proposed, they are
(very) dissatisfied. If a response is
To classify expectations, the following are required: proposed, this is normal.
 Choose the expectations to be classified / qualified and define if Systematically responding to these
possible, for each of them, a possible company response. expectations is COMPULSORY.
 Create the Kano questionnaire (refer to people with
Consumer example: receiving a bill which
experience, as formulating this questionnaire takes great skill). corresponds exactly to the consumption
We propose two questions for each expectations: question A - measured.
'present', means the response has met the expectation and
question B -'absent', when the response does not meet the
expectation.
EXPLICIT OR
Example:
B) The customer sees on their bill
PROPORTIONAL
A) The customer is immediately
informed of changes in tariffs in
any occasions when they have EXPECTATIONS
overrun their limits
relation to their consumption
1 -  I am satisfied 1 -  I am satisfied These are expectations upon which
2 -  this is normal stakeholders' satisfaction depends
2 -  this is normal
on the presence or not of a
3 - 3 - I have no opinion 3 - 3 - I have no opinion response. A response is thus
4 - 4 - I can accept this 4 - 4 - I can accept this explicitly requested.
5 - 5 - I am dissatisfied 5 - 5 - I am dissatisfied
Respond by offering stakeholders
a range of options from which
It is crucial to test the questionnaire for comprehensibility with an
they can pick the one that best
internal group before sending it.
suits them.
 Select the questionnaire recipients: more people affected by this Consumer example: receiving a bill for a
that the number of people interviewed. longer period than that proposed in the
 Send the questionnaire. standard contract for the modest sum of ...
 Analyse responses to the questionnaire:
the combination of answers to the two questions A and B enables
expectations to be classified on the KANO diagram.
LATENT OR ATTRACTIVE
S=sceptical
Question B - 'absent' EXPECTATIONS
A=attractive
Question A - 'present'

P=proportional 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
These are unexpected
I=indifferent expectations. The response
H=hostile 1. S A A A P
appeals to those who discover it.
Its absence does not provoke
Example: the most common 2 H I I I O
response to the expectation is dissatisfaction.
"2 - this is normal" for Offer a new response and
question A and 3 H I I I O communicate its existence in order
"5 - I am dissatisfied" for to generate high satisfaction and
question B 4 H I I I O
The expectation is thus set us apart from our competitors.
classified as Compulsory. Consumer example: being able to monitor
5 H H H H S consumption at any time using all kinds of
fuels.

 and the results can then be used inform better decisions.

PR3: stakeholder listening V6 of November 18, 2011