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Enhance
Your Listening Skills
Improve
Communications and Increase Sales
Arguably, the most important skill in business is listening. Some
of us are better listeners than others, but we all
must work on our listening skills if we are going
to maximize our success in the business world.
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If
you are going to be effective in selling,
serving customers or managing others, you will
need to be able to listen effectively to what
others are telling you. Listening is a key
ingredient in proper communication.
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Errors
and mistakes often arise out of poor listening
and jumping to conclusions.
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Listening
carefully to others shows that you are
interested in what they have to say and that
you respect their input.
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Listening
is a skill that all business people need to
master. Understanding what someone else is
really saying can often minimize future
problems and sometimes uncover opportunities.
Here are some simple tips for improving your listening skills:
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Try
hard not to think about your response until
the other person is done speaking. Trying to
form your response while the other person is
still talking means you probably won't hear
everything you need to hear.
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Don't
talk prematurely or interrupt. Allow the other
person to complete their thoughts before
jumping in. Interrupting a train of thought
can often get the conversation off on a
tangent and make it difficult to get back to
what the other person wanted to say.
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Concentrate
carefully on what the other person is saying.
Look at the other person when they are
speaking. Don't thumb through papers or appear
distracted. Carefully listen to every word.
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Listen
without bias. Before forming an opinion, let
the other person explain their position. If
you allow past experience or your opinion
about the other person to bias your ability to
listen effectively, what they are saying and
what you interpret them to be saying could be
entirely different.
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Never
assume you know what the other person meant if
the wording is unclear. If someone says that
they need something "as soon as
possible" does that mean now, tomorrow,
next week or some other time? If you assume
that it means one thing and the person meant
another, you have a problem. Ask what they
specifically mean when they make a comment
that is unclear.
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Listen
actively by nodding your head to acknowledge,
making good eye contact, saying things like
"I understand" or "that's
interesting", for example. This tells the
other person you are listening attentively.
However, be
careful not to overdo in terms of nodding or
making acknowledging remarks, .
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Clarify
by repeating in your own words when necessary
what you understood the other person to say.
Practice your listening skills every day. You
will be amazed at how much more effective your
communication will be when you assume the
responsibility of becoming an excellent listener.
One of the biggest obstacles in business is
ineffective listening. Don't let it negatively
impact your performance.
Good
luck and good selling!
Russ
Lombardo
PEAK
Sales Consulting
russ@peaksalesconsulting.com
(702)
655-5652
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