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Most firms think they’re listening.
Few hear what actually matters.

Listen Differently is a practical playbook for cutting through that fog. It shows how to turn scattered feedback into an always-on Client Signal, so you can act on what matters before it shows up as lost work, client churn, or price pressure.
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Key insight

Feedback Fog

Most firms think they're listening. Few hear what actually matters. The gap between collecting feedback and understanding what clients truly value, creates what we call Feedback Fog: signals scattered across silos, risks hiding in plain sight, and decisions made without a clear view of what clients really need.
Learn more about overcoming Feedback Fog

The Seven Wisdoms of the Waterhole

At the heart of the book is The Wisdom of the Waterhole: a short business parable about a firm that discovers what it’s been missing, and learns to listen in a fundamentally different way. It’s followed by seven shifts and the practical actions you can take to achieve the same.
Buy the book
1

Listen to grow, not just to measure.

Link your listening programme directly to the firm’s strategic priorities, so feedback drives growth decisions not just annual report cards.
2

Curiosity before defensiveness.

Move from fear of feedback to a culture of curiosity, asking open questions and sharing what is heard, so insight informs better decisions across the whole firm.
3

Listen continuously, not periodically.

Make listening an always-on habit across the whole client journey, so you catch patterns and client concerns while they still matter.
4

Look for signals beyond the research.

The richest signals often come from informal conversations, emails, and complaints; formal surveys and interviews are just a small part of the picture.
5

Listen to all voices, not just the loudest.

Gathering a wide range of perspectives— from client, prospects and colleagues—replaces individual assumptions with shared intelligence.
6

Take action, track impact.

Closing the loop with individual clients, your wider client base, and your own team, is what turns listening into measurable commercial impact.
7

Share insights, multiply opportunities.

When insight flows freely across teams, the whole firm spots opportunities sooner and turns them into revenue growth.

The Seven Wisdoms of the Waterhole

At the heart of the book is The Wisdom of the Waterhole: a short business parable about a firm that discovers what it’s been missing, and learns to listen in a fundamentally different way. It’s followed by seven shifts and the practical actions you can take to achieve the same.
1
Listen to grow, not to measure.
2
Curiosity before defensiveness.
3
Listen continuously, not periodically.
4
Look for signals beyond the research.
5
Listen to all voices, not just the loudest.
6
Take action, track impact.
7
Share insights, multiply opportunities.
Learn more

Industry experts

Each move is brought to life with practical examples, tips, and perspectives from industry experts—the Wise Owls—grounding the ideas in real-world application. Drawn from across a range of B2B industries, their perspectives reflect what works in practice, not just in theory.
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Listen Differently - the impact

When you consistently act on what you hear, the impact is obvious. You're the trusted advisor clients call first, and the firm they recommend before you even ask. You stop defending fees and start winning the work that others never even see.
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Book Resources

Listen Differently isn't just theory—it's a practical playbook grounded in real-world application. Below you'll find key resources from the book. Use these to start transforming how your firm hears and acts on what clients truly value.
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Client Signal Maturity

Most firms are not short of feedback. They are short of clarity. The Client Signal Maturity Assessment shows how well your firm captures, connects and uses signals to drive better decisions and organic growth. In just a few minutes, you’ll see whether your approach is fragmented, structured, integrated or intelligent — and where the gaps are.
Take the assessment
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Feedback Openness Scale

The Feedback Openness Scale helps leaders recognise where they sit on a spectrum of how openly it seeks, receives and uses feedback; and what it looks like to move forward. Most firms think they’re sitting comfortably above zero. In truth, many hover around the middle, doing just enough to claim they ‘listen’ but not enough to learn.
Get the resource
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Value Drivers

The Value Drivers model provides a consistent way to compare brand promises against client reality. Our model gives firms a common language that bridges the gap between how they talk about value and how their clients experience it. Instead of relying on a single metric like NPS, you identify the 3–4 characteristics that your firm has committed to excelling at. These Value Drivers then become a consistent focus of your listening.
Get the resource
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Client Signal Flywheel

The Client Signal Flywheel provides a practical blueprint for how firms use client insights to drive continuous growth by moving from fragmented feedback to always-on clarity. The flywheel replaces standalone activities with an internal rhythm that helps firms collect signals, align around insight, and act with confidence.
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About the authors

Written by Jennie Waring and Paul Roberts of MyCustomerLens, this book is for leaders in professional and business services firms who want to strengthen relationships, protect reputation, and build a genuine competitive advantage.

— The signal is already there. This book shows you how to tune in and take action. 
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Jennie Waring

Jennie Waring is a client listening and insight specialist who helps professional services firms turn meaningful feedback into stronger relationships, better client experience, and measurable service improvement. Her work bridges the gap between listening and action, ensuring insight translates into real operational and commercial impact.
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Her perspective is shaped by nearly two decades at EY, where she led the evolution of client listening from ad hoc surveys and isolated initiatives into an integrated, firm-wide capability. Jennie focuses on embedding feedback into the way firms operate; from establishing consistent processes and governance to enabling the adoption of new VoC technology and self-service models that put insight into the hands of those closest to the client.
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The golden thread throughout her career is making client insight usable at scale. Whether enabling partners to lead better client conversations or building programmes that improve accountability and consistency, her work ensures firms don’t just collect feedback, but act on it to strengthen relationships and support long-term growth.

Paul Roberts

Paul Roberts is the pioneer of always-on client listening for professional and financial services firms. As co-founder of MyCustomerLens, he helps organisations move beyond fragmented feedback and siloed data to build a shared, always-on view of their client relationships. The result is more confident decision-making, stronger client experience, and more predictable revenue growth.

His work centres on helping leadership teams build a clearer, data-driven view of their clients. By strengthening their ‘Client Signal’, he combines a deep understanding of client experience with data analytics to reveal what clients value, where expectations fall short, and where revenue is at risk. This enables firms to move from instinct to evidence, improving service, strengthening relationships, and unlocking growth.

Paul’s perspective draws on international experience in Australia and New Zealand, and cross-industry roles with firms including MBNA, HSBC, PwC and Sport England. The golden thread running through his career is a focus on helping organisations deliver better experiences and client-led growth.