I came across this while browsing around the ActiveRain site:
"The quieter you become the more you hear."
Posted by Lou Ludwig of Boca Raton, Florida, the quote caused me to recall a business training initiative on effective listeniing which became a core element of Xerox Corporation's business skills training program. In an article entitled Xerox U (Time/CNN) reported, "Since it set up its industrial-education program in 1965, the Xerox Corp. of Rochester has cranked up sales of crisp courses in business skills to 20,000 a month. Currently boasting three short (up to three days) courses that include drills on sales and problem-solving techniques as well as 'effective listening,' the program has drawn more than 500,000 students from such companies as Pfizer, General Electric, Burlington Industries and Eastern Airlines." So, effective listening is clearly a big deal and Lou's quote, "The quieter you become the more you hear," is an elequent expression of it.
I think that the first step towards effective listening is valuing silence as an important part of a client relationship. Dead air does not have to be filled with my words. Rather, the silence should be allowed to act as a vacuum to be filled with our clients' information...information that will help us serve them better.
Consultant Germaine Knapp, president of Wordsmart Inc., a consulting and training firm in Rochester, N.Y. notes: "Effective listening--we call it power listening--is one of the strongest assets in professional life today. Too few of us take advantage of it, but all of us could. There are dozens of field-proven techniques and tactics for applying the power of listening, and they get results."
The second step is realizing that, as realtors, we exist only to help our clients reach their goals...and to do that we have listen.
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Brian McCabe
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Caldwell, NJ, 07006
Cell: (973) 865-1863 email: bmcccabe@wessex-homes,com
Game Changer...be prepared for surprises
Listening is always one of a honed skill. Most people want to talk because they cant stand the silence. That, or they talk to "exert" authority. I'm not sure if both works. I much prefer a listening person hence I strive to be one.
One of my daughter's friends said something quite interesting not long ago. She told me and my wife that she always like having dinner with us and just hanging around because we never made her feel like a kid and we alwsys listened to what she had to say. Of course, that made us feel great but the lesson underlying it is so important. We all want to be regarded by others. It makes no difference whether we are on stage or being recognized by our barber or a matre de at one of our favorite restaurants. It matters. I think if people knew how much it matters they would provide more space for other people thoughts, ideas and feelings. It's what being human is all about.
Thanks for adding your thoughts, Loreena.
This is so true. My husband is a master salesman who taught me the art and value of listening instead of "selling."