Archive for January, 2010

Jan 31 2010

Are You Singing Your Sales Song?

What music

that you hear

catches in your throat?

What piece of music, musician, vocalist, group or recording gives you goosebumps? Chills up and down your spine? A tear to your eye? Something catches in your throat? How does that happen? What emotion does it raise in you?

What or when or where or whom does it remind you of? How does it do that? Words? Instruments? Violin? Flute? Harp? Sax? Drums? Bagpipes? What about composition? Arrangement? Set and setting? Performers? Charisma? Rod Stewart? Taylor Swift? Bach? The Eagles? Satchmo? The Beatles? Joni Mitchell? Bing Crosby? Pavarotti? Judy Garland? The Supremes? Sugarland?

Listen, you’re a sales pro or you’re the boss of your business, right? So is it not true that you also earn your pay every day by going on stage, stepping into the spotlight, and singing your business sales song?

[“All the world’s a stage” you know. Shakespeare told us so!]

Well, okay, maybe you don’t exactly “sing” your spiel, but you do give it a special spin, true? And how much do the ways you present yourself to others capture the ingredients that you think others use to somehow catch what you hear in your throat?

Have you noticed yourself losing some steam lately? [Well, don’t beat yourself up. You’d have to be a monk or a hermit to not be suffering some wear and tear from this economy]. The point is that great music is delivered with great energy and great enthusiasm.

So are great business sales pitches.

You have a great song to sing about your business — benefits, values, innovation, features, employees, commitments, track-record, service, trust and integrity — are you delivering these messages with great gusto … or just slogging along?

Are you remembering that every encounter every day with every person is an exciting and unique new opportunity to create sales? Are you singing your sales song to employees and customers? To suppliers and associates? To prospects?

(Prospects! I mean, consider this: who isn’t a prospect? Even if you’re a Swiss Screw Precision Manufacturer cranking out precision metal microchip connection parts not much bigger than the head of a pin, and you sell them almost exclusively to government rocketship scientists and Silicon Valley muckity-mucks, you never know who knows who! Never. You never know if the person standing next to you at the railroad station, the airport, the grocery store is the cousin, uncle, mother, or best friend of one of those rocket or Silicon guys.)

Bottom line? You can never (well, hardly ever) be too enthusiastic about your business and what you sell, and why what you sell is so great because of what it provides in the way of benefits! I keep a reminder postcard on my desk that Kathy and I once got from dear friend Judy Vorfeld which is headlined:

“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life”

…followed by the notation:

“Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch.”

Just a small idea, but how about making every encounter you have tomorrow be a “Make-it-a-most-important-person-to-ever-hear-your-sales-song-day”? What have you got to lose? You might even be inspired to try it again on Tuesday. Ah, one final word to keep on the front burner as you make your grand entrance and repeat your performances: GENUINE.

Thanks, Judy!

[Visit Judy at  http://www.ossweb.com (her blog) and her wonderful free e-zines Communication Expressway www.ossweb.com/ezine.html and Webgrammar http://www.webgrammar.com]

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Hal@Businessworks.US 302.933.0116

Open Minds Open Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Jan 30 2010

What’s Your “Speakunique”©?

Are You Selling Whackadoos

                        

To Nursing Home Residents?

                                                                                   

     There I sat, 23 year-old hot-shot ad agency guy, at the fancy New York City restaurant lunch table between Richard Gelb, then the president of Clairol, and Charles Revson, then the president of Revlon… both men at least twice my age and light-years beyond my dreams of wealth. 

     Considering the extent of business and fashion industry clout at each of my elbows, I was about as close as one can get to being a total nervous wreck.

     My boss, who’d been suddenly placed on the DL that morning, asked me to fill in and represent the ad agency’s interests in establishing some vague, centralized public relations program for the HBA (Health & Beauty Aids) market that we hoped would involve both their companies.

     “Speak unique, Son,” I was told about 90 seconds into my awkward spiel, after stuttering and sputtering out some feeble explanation about what I do for a living, and what the purpose of my insignificant presence with them was all about.

     In other words, the Clairol man was asking me to get to the point, cut to the chase, not beat around the bush, spit it out! What’s your frame of reference, he asked. Who’s your market, he asked. I stammered even more.

     “Well,” I improvised, “considering that your two companies sell the most hair coloring…” CRUNCH! The Revlon man’s fist hit the table hard enough to rattle the bluepoint oyster shells. “Son, we don’t sell hair coloring. We sell the promise of sex to single, young girls. And don’t you forget it!”

     I never forgot.

     What do YOU sell? Are you sure? Knowing unequivocally what you’re selling and to whom — straight out, without elaborate, politically-correct, marketingese language — will keep your business on course and your sales focus front and center.

     Famous for its (truly outstanding!) “Artisan Bread,”the ACE Bakery in Toronto, Ontario Canada www.acebakery.com sells the “promise of every employee” that the bread is their very best quality using only the best natural ingredients, AND that they are committed to a sense of social responsibility for the community that supports them. ACE donates a percentage of pre-tax profits to local charitable organizations, targeting especially food and nutrition programs for low-income neighbors. 

     What is YOUR business known for? What are YOU doing about it? How are YOU representing it? DO YOU “SPEAKUNIQUE”?

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Jan 28 2010

The State of The Small Business Message

No, we’re NOT past the worst,

                                                   

the job creation plan’s a scam

                                            

…but yes, you can still thrive!

                                                                                                                                                    

Here is The State of Small Business Message:

WORK HARDER, NOT SMARTER!

                                                                                                                                  

     Let the giant freshly-bailed-out corporations with taxpayer-dollar-supported operating budgets do all the “SMARTER” stuff. They did, after all, manage to get themselves financially stimulated, so they must be smarter than small businesses.

     And let us, the small businesses of America, simply not be stupid. Let us not be duped by grandiose, self-serving pep-talks that don’t walk the talk. We cannot choose to waste time and energy dealing with those down deep, fraudulent attempts to force-feed us bone-crushing defeats while patting us on the hands and telling us how great everything is going to be.

     Oh, sure, government should be rewarded for creating jobs, even though the jobs to be created are government job creations for government-funded projects being paid for with loans borrowed against our tax dollars? Does that sound like an economic recovery plan to you? It sounds like digging a deeper hole to me. Would you do this with your own business?

     But we can’t fight that without giving up our businesses and our lives to do it. We need to cast this misguided naivete aside and just get on with making our businesses work. Yes, that’s hard. And no, we’re NOT out of economic bad times; we have NOT turned the corner; things are NOT getting better. If you think otherwise, just look around you, and listen…

     But the good news is that, YES, we can survive and thrive. It means doing things differently. We need to not worry about rising above our nation’s financial mess and bureaucratic free-spending incompetence, and instead to concentrate all of our energy and attention on making our own businesses work better.

     That means we must accept the fact that to truly make a difference, we must work harder. Here’s one small example:

     If you can get yourself to work just 15 minutes earlier than usual and leave just 15 minutes later than usual everyday, you will be adding as much as 2.5 hours a week, which equals 10 hours a month, which translates to 125 hours a (50-week) year, which equals more than 15.6 extra full 8-hour work-DAYS a year. Uh ~~~ 3 WEEKS!

     What could you accomplishfor your business with those three additional weeks? How about if everybody in your business agrees to donate just 10 minutes a day of early arrival or stay late time? Hmmm. What else does that make you think about? 

     When you work harder, you lead by example, you attract more sales and referrals, you get more organized, your customers and suppliers will respect you more … and you’ll probably play harder too! You’re already working harder? Keep it up! It WILL pay you back!   

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Jan 27 2010

Are You Growing Your Business Or Killing It?

Are You A Cereal Entrepreneur

                                                  

Or A Serial Entrepreneur?

                                                                       
Special thanks to Doyle Slayton at www.XOOMBI.com for the inspiration   

                                                                                                                                          

In case no one’s put their hand on your shoulder and whispered in your ear for awhile: Psssssst! Life (even business life) isn’t about being a serial killer no matter what you do with, for, or to yourself!

     Think you could name a few prominent athletes, a few Hollywood types, a few businesspeople (maybe even a cousin?) who’ve overplayed their killer instincts and thinking they could do whatever they wanted — whenever and wherever they wanted — to the point of crashing their lives into a wall? Daily news reports will help joggle your brain.

     Serial Entrepreneurs are no different. They charge from one venture to another with nothing in the cross-hairs of their sites but dollar signs. And they simply don’t succeed in life. Thankfully, these profiles are not the majority.

     Unfortunately though, when economic times are tough, there’s a mad rush into the marketplace from those who’ve been cut out or cut back at work to think the grass looks greener on the work-from-home side of the fence and they will typically hurry into a venture they’ve convinced themselves looks promising and plunk their savings into a startup.

     Most of these gold-rush fever serial types will end up making their situations worse than when they started. Why? Because growing and running a business is physically, mentally, financially, and emotionally exhausting. It’s a total brain drain (not to mention the slimming of your wallet).

     I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I’ve learned as most do, the hard way.

     Fortunately, most entrepreneurs act instinctively on their burning desires to achieve something of consequence with the ideas they usher into the marketplace. Getting rich on an idea is not the reason for the pursuit. Making a difference is what counts. Making something happen. 

     If you’ve been fortunate to have inherited entrepreneurial traits, or have learned them from experience, a friend or family member, or through a legitimate hands-on training or academic environment, Bless You! Why?

     Because YOU are one of the people destined to make a difference in both the world and in this economy. YOU are one of the people most likely to build your idea to the point of creating new jobs. And YOU are one of the people who will lead your followers to achieve.

     How can you tell if you’re cereal material or serial material? Do you like to taste a little bit of everything? Experience a lot of different business flavors? Are you challenged by that? Do you thrive on taking an idea and seeing it all the way through to the end?

     Or are you just out to make one quick killing after another? If you answered yes to the last question, be honest in asking yourself if you have a track-record of being realistic.   

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Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jan 26 2010

COMMUNICATING WITH QUESTIONS

What Kinds of Answers

                                       

Do You Give?

                                                                                          

     I once had a boss who answered every question with a question. It became so predictable, I hardly ever asked him something without having all the backup information ready … I guess he was more savvy than I first imagined; and I learned from the annoyance factor alone.

     I had another boss who spouted out “Yes” or “No” (mostly “No”) as a response to everything asked of her. And if you tried to ask an open-ended question, she would tell you to rephrase the inquiry for a “Yes” or “No” response! Except for gaining some insight on the management style of a control freak, I never learned much of anything from her.

    When you answer some one’s question, do you elaborate on your thinking? By sharing your rationale, are you cultivating leadership or teamwork? Does this way of dealing with others take more time and effort? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Only you can say.

     The bottom line though would seem to be that when you have a business-vested or personal interest in the individual asking for your opinions, advice or decisions, you will probably be more interested in sharing the reasons behind your answers.

     So then along comes all the great psychological motivational gurus armed with studies which prove that those with whom time, patience and effort are spent will rise to the occasion and outperform those who are ignored or who are not taken so securely under the wing.

     Aha! Does that then mean if you explain yourself to some and not to others, you are exercising bias and perhaps precluding the potential success of those you simply snap at with your “Yes” or “No” verdicts?

     Short of sitting in some corner and chanting “Life is just one big manipulation operation and the chips need to fall where they may!” you might want to consider the following:

A snappy retort that’s not pointedly requested is an insult. It presumes the individual posing the question has no value and is not worthy of your time and energy.

Every question asked of you represents an opportunity to teach, and a chance to demonstrate leadership by example.

The way that you respond to questions is as important as your answer in the lineup of how others measure your leadership value, your trust, and your reputation.

Thoughtful questions and answers form the cornerstone to the building of employee loyalty and exceptional performance. And those qualities are the makings of innovative thinking, increased sales, heightened productivity, and a solid posture in the communities your business serves. 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

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WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?> http://bit.ly/7K0s4a

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 DOES NO BEAT MAYBE?> 1/6 @http://bit.ly/74qlG5

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Jan 25 2010

COMMUNICATING FOR ANSWERS…

What Kinds of Questions

                          

Do You Ask?

                                                                  

  [Here are 23 for YOU to answer!]          

                                                                                   

Dear Boss: Do you really need some answer you already probably know, or are you seeking some actionable insight about the individual, group, idea, or circumstance you’re questioning?

Did you ever consider that the more disciplined your management approach, the less likely you’ll want to know more than a yes or no answer, and the more likely you are to be a misfit in today’s business world?

Oooh, sorry, are you perhaps one of those exceptions who runs some quasi-military small business? Or you per chance captain a deep-sea fishing boat? Maybe you oversee electrical wiring experts who work on the tops of telephone poles, or workers who paint the top of the Washington or Golden Gate Bridge? You manage a shooting range? [You get the idea?]

Did you realize that the closer you are to the people who are the heart of your organization, and the better you are at exercising leadership by example, the less likely you’ll be to find gratifying results from asking questions that prompt yes or no responses?

Do you think through what you really want to know ahead of time, or simply wing it by firing off rounds of disjointed questions, figuring that  — because you’re the boss — you’ll get answers to everything you ask anyway, and will eventually find out what you want to know?   

Has it occurred to you how much time that wastes? Would you feel aggravated if you were on the receiving end? Do you think others see you this way? Do your family members see you this way?

If you don’t already practice it, did you know that asking open-ended questions will generate much more telling information than yes/no, true/false, and multiple choice questions? What’s a good example?

The best interview question to ask a job applicant is: “If I handed you a million dollars right now, what would you do with it?” Will you learn more from the answer to this question than from 20 questions about what’s on the resume? [Does a bear…?]

Two more examples? “What specific steps would you recommend to solve this problem our business is having?” [Not “WHY did it happen?”] Ask a constantly late employee to drop off a list with you on his/her way home that identifies “what 3 things she/he will do immediately to avoid being late in the future?” [Not WHY the person was late, which only produces excuses.]

Tailor your questions to the situation, the person or group you’re asking, and to generating the kind of answer that will be most productive for you to have. 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

GOT A SICK WEBSITE? 

WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?  

 LEADERSHIP SEARCH? 

 DOES “NO” BEAT “MAYBE”? 

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Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US 

 Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jan 24 2010

Click Your REFRESH Button!

Step Back From Your Business.

                                                                                                         

    When’s the last time you clicked your own “Refresh” button? After bursting out of the New Year’s gate, it’s only natural to get a little weary rounding the home turn, headed toward Valentine’s Day! But NOW is the perfect time to adjust your course and your attitude about the course that you’re on (this, btw, is not an endorsement of happy hour).

     You already have your goals. And they’re specific, flexible, realistic and due-dated. Your new value-added products and services are off to a good start. Prospective customers are filling up the sales pipeline.

     Cutbacks haven’t left you with as many disgruntled employees as you imagined and most, in fact, have been rising to the occasion. Your marketing programs are working off sparser budgets and dipping into some unknown territories.

     You’ve innovated the innovations and things feel okay.

     Well, don’t shoot the messenger, but guess what? If things feel okay:

A) That’s not good enough. Maybe “okay” would have put you in cruise control a few years ago, but not in this economy, and not in this supersonic-tech-paced lifestyle. Things have to feel a whole lot better than “okay” to survive and thrive.  

B) A rolling stone gathers no moss (Thanks, but no — I didn’t make that up. Actually, my version has always been “Some action is better than no action”!). The point is to save the lounge chair and iPod for vacations and retirement. 

My friend Kevin Bousquet who runs www.InterlakenInn.com — a GREAT place for meetings — once said about tending to management transparency (as Jonena Relth calls it at www.TBDConsulting.com): “There’s plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.”  

C) Do the 10-minute escape-to-reality thing, and in all probability you’ll surprise yourself. It’s not hard; in fact, your 3 year-old will help if you get stuck. Ready?

1. Step back from what you’re doing, clean off your eyeglasses (or take a couple of deep breaths http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw while you press gently against your closed eyelids for ten seconds), and

2. Take another nine minutesand 50 seconds to clean up, straighten out or rearrange something in/on/at your worksite that will help you be more effective.

3. One last step back, away from what you’ve just done. Another deep breath can’t hurt. And look at what you’ve just done. Critique yourself. What did you just learn about your self that you can apply to re-energizing and adjusting the course you’re on? Who can best help you?

What are you waiting for?  What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? (Valentine’s Day is on the way!)

Hmmmmm? 

……….Visit Hal’s Guest Blog Posts………. 

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WHAT’S YOUR T-SHIRT SAY?> http://bit.ly/7K0s4a

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Jan 23 2010

SELLING YOUR “INTERNAL” CUSTOMERS

Are You Marketing to

                                          

Your “Inner Circle”?

                                                                                  

     Besides your mother, there is no bigger fan support base for your business than the market that constitutes your “internal” (or “inner circle” of) customers. Perhaps you never thought of them as a market.

     Perhaps you never thought about who, exactly, makes up this hot prospect / top customer group. Here are some quick thoughts you might want to consider:

     Without exception, the best source of business is existing and past business. Most small business owners and managers realize this, if not overtly, then at least instinctively, and do a pretty decent job of catering to these special people.

     The second best source of business is your “inner circle,” your “internal customer market.” This is comprised first and foremost of your own employees and staff. And many owners and managers also recognize the potential attached to this segment of the internal customer market with things like employee discounts.

(As an interesting side note: In Ben & Jerry’s growth years, every employee was required by job description to take home 7 free pints of ice cream every week, which they of course served to friends and family and gave to neighbors, which became a seeding process to help create a “big buzz”! ), but . . .

     How many small businesses take the next step outside this innermost support ring? When did you last, for example, make special effort to gain customers from your vendor/supplier ranks?

     Think about the fact that at least part of the success of every vendor and supplier to your business (from manufacturing and office supplies, to specialized and not-so-specialized services) is dependent on your business’s continued success.

     Marketing? Ha! It doesn’t even cost anything to hand-deliver or email these people special announcements of special product or service deal considerations. The stronger your alliances with your vendors and suppliers, the more they’ll act as your UNcommissioned, UNpaid sales force as they make their rounds calling on other businesses. It’s like networking the networkers.

     Have you made efforts to similarly (perhaps more quietly) market your wares or services to outside visitors –including sales reps– who call on you in person or by phone? What about other businesses on your block, in your building, neighborhood, community, state or region?

     Internet social networks are not the only avenues for capturing customers from among those who already know of your existence and who may share some common ground. Put on your thinking cap, and keep open-minded. 

     And what have you done for or with the mass or industrial or professional media lately? Not only might those people be prospects for you, they have the ability to influence many others … So do you!

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Jan 21 2010

Small Business Business Is Big Business

Marketing your business outside

                                       

your small business market can

                                               

bring you BIG business returns!

                                                                                               

     Before you stick your nose up at the idea of marketing your small business outside your business market, sit back, absorb, and be willing to be surprised! In fact, I’m willing to bet that I’ll stop your mouse in mid-air within the next 3 sentences.

     Before you offer one of those 37 pet excuses why it doesn’t work, won’t work, can’t work, costs too much, makes no sense, is fantasy, and just ain’t worth the time or trouble — before you start in, let me tell you that you need to open your mind and re-visit the idea. Because it works! [That’s 2 sentences; 1 more to go; this bracketed stuff doesn’t count.]

     It can work for you and your business and (AHEM!) it’s free! Ah, there it is. The magic word that suckers every small business owner/ manager/partner/entrepreneur. Did it stop your runaway mouse?

     Okay, here we go…Let’s say you own a small appliance repair service business in Gumboro, Delaware, and you think it’s ridiculous to promote what you do to people who live in San Diego, Dallas, Detroit, Denmark, or Djibouti, right? (Sorry about getting stuck on D’s, and Djibouti? Who knows?)

     Well, you might have been right a few years ago, but with today’s smaller, quicker world, there’s really “no tellin'” where your next sale is coming from. Someone who sees mention of a small appliance business in her cousin’s hometown is likely to mention it in a next phone call or email. If you believe sales could be from anywhere, then sales could be from anywhere. Check out this little story:

A restaurateur friend of mine in California, knowing I went to college in New Rochelle, New York, recently raved to me in an email about a unique “no-menu” restaurant located in New Rochelle after having just seen it mentioned on Twitter, and then checked its website.

I’m a couple of states away now, but my brother’s insurance business is in Larchmont, New York, next to New Rochelle. When I called to wish him Happy New Year, I asked his wife about the restaurant. They knew the place, she said, but had shied away because they heard it had no menu. But my mention of the email I got piqued her interest and she said they would try it this week.

  • Total cost to the restaurant:    ZERO
  • Total value to the restaurant: PRICELESS (My brother’s a big eater AND a big tipper!) 

     There are thousands more stories like this for all kinds of small businesses that choose to not limit their marketing because making excuses and staying stuck in a time warp is easier to deal with than having to develop new promotional, publicity and marketing strategies.

     I’m not suggesting you suddenly abandon your steady customer base, or that you plunk down barrels full of cash to sponsor American Idol.

     I AM suggesting that small businesses need to put aside past thinking limitations and step up to global promotional efforts, especially when they’re available for free, 24/7, exercise a little imagination, and go at it persistently.

“Tell your LA & NYC friends they can get LA & NYC music composed & recorded in Ohio…better & cheaper @ http://bit.ly/7LzLES” is all it might take, for example, as a Twitter post (and a dozen characters left over, no less!) or post some variation a few times a day. Or on Facebook, or with a video and soundtrack sampler on YouTube.

     Got the idea? Go get the business? It may take longer than you like to get the “buzz” going, but it’s hard to beat the cost.      

                                                          

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Jan 20 2010

How do your sales and business gardens grow?

Water, Sunshine, Fertilizer 

                                    

and Good Hard Listening!

 

                                                               

     The most common report from thousands of employees (in hundreds of surveys done over the past 20 years) is that those who indicated they liked their supervisor all said something like:

“I like my boss. She listens to me.”

OR

“I like my boss. I can talk to him.”

                                                   

      So maybe you don’t care about being liked? Then click off to some vampire/zombie site and be done with you. A little harsh? No, and do you know why? Because you should care.

     Because, even though management isn’t a popularity contest — and there’s surely some truth to the old saying that you don’t have to like someone to do business with him — reality dictates nonetheless that people who do like their bosses prove over and over that they are more responsive, more productive, and more loyal.

     Being liked comes from one place: mutual respect.

 

     Respect for others comes about most often from listening, not just hearing. Consider the following:

     During a hectic business day, it’s normal for your mind to wander when you’re listening to someone talk. Most people talk at a rate of 100-150 words per minute (double this if you’re a chimpanzee, a disk jockey, or a teenager). But we listen at the rate of 600-800 words per minute. In other words, our minds (those of us who still have them) are going at a rate about four times faster than someone is speaking.

     When you’re speaking, this speed difference works in your favor because it lets you think ahead. But when you’re listening, the speed difference breeds daydreaming and impatience.

     The ability to listen and observe aggressively — to really hear and see what someone is communicating has far greater business implications than simply gaining insight.

     In selling, there is no greater asset!

     Your employees and customers are constantly revealing themselves in ways that will go unnoticed unless you are aggressively involved in listening to them and observing them … instead of thinking about what you want to say and trying to figure out how to squeeze in your ideas.

     The statements people make about themselves— the signals they give off — are both conscious and unconscious (“body language” if you will), but understanding these signals enough to make some positive use of them depends entirely on your ability to pick up on them … to listen aggressively and to observe aggressively.

     Active listening requires practice, but it will help you get more from what people actually mean, which might be quite different from what they are saying. Oh, and you won’t daydream … there won’t be time for that when you’re busy listening and observing.

                                                             

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