'Listening Wins Sales' - Brian Tracy's Blog Article - April 5, 2007

Brian Tracy's blog article is reprinted here.

Listening Wins Sales

The ability to pay close, uninterrupted attention to a person when he is speaking is the primary listening skill.

There are books, articles and multi-day courses on listening. There are audio/video-learning programs that include hours of instruction and a variety of exercises. They are all valuable and helpful, but what they teach can be distilled down into a key skill. Your mastery of these skills, through discipline and practice, is all you need to become an excellent listener, with all that that entails. Listen Attentively When Others Speak The best listening skill is to listen attentively. Lean forward; face the prospect directly rather than at an angle. Focus your attention on the prospects face, on his or her mouth and eyes. Hang On Every Word Listen without interruption. Listen as though you were hanging on every word the prospect was saying. Listen as if the prospects were about to give you the winning Lottery number and you would only hear it once. Listen as if this were a million dollar prospect who was just on the verge of giving you a major order. Listen as if there were no one else in the world to whom you would rather listen at this moment than this prospect, and to what this prospect is saying. The Most Important Skill of All The ability to pay close, uninterrupted attention to a person when he is speaking is the primary listening skill. It is the hardest facility to develop and is simultaneously the most important of all. It requires continuous practice and discipline. And it's not easy. It is hard to keep your thoughts from wandering, but the payoff is tremendous. Action Exercises Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action. First, imagine that your customer is the most fascinating person in the world. Hang on every word as if he was about to place a million dollar order. Second, lean forward when your customer speaks. Nod, smile, agree and be both active and involved. Listening builds sales relationships. About the Author Brian Tracy is the most listened to audio author on personal and business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to get better results in every area. Join Brian's Free Email Newsletters. Copyright © 2001 Brian Tracy International. All Rights Reserved. www.briantracy.com *SINewswatch would like to thank Brian Tracy for granting permission to reprint this blog article.