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The Greatest Tool in Business: Listening

Written by: Greg Gaskill

Article Overview: Failure to listen can impact your success in more ways than one.

The Greatest Tool in Business: Listening

While perhaps accelerated and more noticeable in recent times, given increased competition and outlets for "noise" in the marketplace, one of the greatest sins committed by salespeople and decision-makers is the simple failure to listen.

The obvious place to measure your listening abilities is when dealing with customers. How much information have you gathered before delivering a proposal, recommending a batch of products or services, or simply begin to take discussion to the "next step?" Do you know the ins and outs of their business and their needs, or simply just enough to spit out a price and a sales pitch? Better yet, once the phone call or visit is over, do you even remember anything about the conversation aside from the last action YOU took? A potential customer didn't initiate contact with you because they wanted a therapist, but providing and demonstrating an ability to show genuine interest in them will always leave a positive impact.

What about "listening" to various news and updates relating to your industry? Are you so involved in your own company to not know what your competitors are doing? What about general chatter in the marketplace? If the winds are swirling and whispers (or even shouts) are abound about a new method for lead generation, a different customer service approach, etc...are you aware and therefore, open to a new line of thinking or operating, or too busy with your head down, charging like a battering ram conducting the same method of business you've always been?

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Article Tags: decision makers, div, endif, fareast, footer, genuine interest, gte, initiate, ins and outs, level 1, mso, orphan, page break, paper source, phone call, proposal, salespeople, style definitions, times new roman, zoom



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My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: How do I find a direct mail list of potential customers - Hi WhyNot, Is it possible there are websites about the Federal Government. It needs to delve into it to find the key person. Listening for once to the news could pinpoint who is really in charge of this department. I wish you wisdom to connect with the right people. Nothing is too difficult, if you put your mind to it. Maybe some one else has a supportive idea.
Re: How to Get Over Your Fear of Failure, Make Every Second Coun - Hi Evan, I've just been listening to a couple of your MTM videos while packing parcels. I especially enjoyed this one on JKR. Listening to stuff like this while packing orders is one of my better ways of "making every second count!"
Wow! - Wow, this comes in as a close second to one of the best resources listed on EC.com. The first for me was the free Camtasia Tool.
Press Release Builder Tool - Hi Shri - I would be happy to. What do you need from me? Please PM me the details. Also, if anybody has suggestions for how to make the Press Release Builder Tool more valuable please let me know!


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