The Art of Listening. Do You Realize This is a Conversation?
Normally my posts lean towards instructional, but I want to comment during this post. I want to comment on the importance of a truly undervalued skill....Listening. In sales, and in life, listening is critical to our personal and professional success. A couple of years ago, I listened to a TED talk. (Side Note: If you don't follow TED, you should. It is a source of insightful, inspiring, and intriguing conversation). You can view the talk by Julian Treasure titled 5 Ways to Listen Better here: http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better.html Julian's presentation made me think about how integral the ability to listen is in sales. To me, it appears that sales people are always rushing to results. I think we are generally Type A personalities--assertive, eager to impress, hungry for the deal--and, as a result, we often forget that sales is a conversation. I assert that being able to ask the RIGHT questions at the RIGHT time and then afterwards