_ The only way to make a sale is to listen.
Some people communicate clearly and directly. With these prospects or clients, listening is easy and not only do you get what they say, but often these people have a strong commitment to being heard and clearly. So even with a salesperson who works at missing or mis-hearing key communications, the client prevails. However, there are many people who have strong commitments to indirect, evasive, distracted, minimal, and presumptive communication. With these people your average listening skills will have a difficult or impossible time getting the information you need, understanding the requirement, or knowing if you are making any progress. Listening is also essential in retaining clients who will want to buy from you again and again. When I do a business transaction and have to correct or repeat information over and over, I make it my priority to find another source to buy from. How do you listen so you get all the information and messages needed to get a sale and keep a recurring customer? The answer in the next edition of this blog.
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_Here is a simple exercise I just invented and am having great results with here in my office. I am choosing to listen with gratitude and appreciation. I hear the water running in the kitchen and am thankful for abundant, clean hot and cold water. I hear the clock ticking. I am feeling grateful for my old, round clock that works great decades after purchase. Underneath that, I am appreciating how I have changed over time and how much I have received in my time on this planet so far. I also hear the blowing of air through the vent and am very happy to have heat on this cool day. I am thankful also for the fresh air that comes in through the exchange system that some man brought to my attention years ago. I can't remember his name, and I am still benefiting from his wise suggestion.
You get the idea. Have fun listening for what is of value in your life. I am an auditory learner. And so it makes great sense that I took to full-out listen at a really young age. I remember the total pleasure of listening from my bedroom to the conversations going on in the living room between my parents and their friends. While the words were interesting, what I believe I enjoyed every bit as much was picking up on the inflections, the change to whisper, the emotion warp in the vocal vibrations.
My vision is a world in which everyone is heard. My experience of being heard is that I relax, I open to new options, I connect. Problems are solved easily when I really listen (often these are problems I created by missing the real meaning in a comment, or an email). So I hope you will join me as I report here on what I am learning about listening. And I plan to continue to continue posting quotes and thoughts on the Facebook page |
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Michael Deloughery is The Listening Coach. ArchivesCategories |