Free Online Marketing Ideas

Listen Up!

How well do you really listen when networking and talking to customers or potential referral sources?

Recently I noticed the following in an issue of Coffee News!

Surely it’s no coincidence that the word “listen” is an anagram of the word “silent”.

And it caused me to reflect on the people I have met with whom it is hard to get even a few seconds of conversation where they are not speaking.

If we were given 2 ears and 1 mouth and meant to use them in that proportion then someone out there did not get the message.

Whilst one way conversations in either direction are limiting, when building relationships where we are the active partner, listening is the greatest compliment we can pay to the other party.

A good test as to how well we listened is to take a minute after the conversation is over and write down three key points that the other party covered. If you can’t, you weren’t listening.

The best way to build relationships, with a doubt, is to ask that fabulous five word question “how can I help you” and then close our mouth and open our ears. That means when we are “silent” we really can “listen”.