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Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good ques

It occurred to me after hanging up the telephone that I was on sales mode during my call with my ten year old grand daughter. We were on the telephone for about 15 minutes when we had to end our conversation. What surprised me was her parting comments. She ended the call by saying, "I really like talking to you grandpa - you're smart and interesting."

It is important to realize that although my grand daughter thinks I'm smart and interesting, she is only ten. In fact if you had listened to the call, you would realize that I didn't really say that much. My grand daughter did most of the talking and I kept asking her good questions. The subjects ranged from the different food she liked and what she was doing in school. She talked about liking vinegar with her spinach. That she didn't like avocados that much. The conversation was really me asking her about her life and what she was doing at school. I was doing something that many people don't do to a ten year old. I was taking a sincere interest in her. It was simple. My listening skills allowed me to ask good questions and my grand daughter thought I was smart and interesting.

Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good quest

eally like talking to you grandpa - you're smart and interesting."

It is important to realize that although my grand daughter thinks I'm smart and interesting, she is only ten. In fact if you had listened to the call, you would realize that I didn't really say that much. My grand daughter did most of the talking and I kept asking her good questions. The subjects ranged from the different food she liked and what she was doing in school. She talked about liking vinegar with her spinach. That she didn't like avocados that much. The conversation was really me asking her about her life and what she was doing at school. I was doing something that many people don't do to a ten year old. I was taking a sincere interest in her. It was simple. My listening skills allowed me to ask good questions and my grand daughter thought I was smart and interesting.

Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good ques

daughter did most of the talking and I kept asking her good questions. The subjects ranged from the different food she liked and what she was doing in school. She talked about liking vinegar with her spinach. That she didn't like avocados that much. The conversation was really me asking her about her life and what she was doing at school. I was doing something that many people don't do to a ten year old. I was taking a sincere interest in her. It was simple. My listening skills allowed me to ask good questions and my grand daughter thought I was smart and interesting.

Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good ques

her about her life and what she was doing at school. I was doing something that many people don't do to a ten year old. I was taking a sincere interest in her. It was simple. My listening skills allowed me to ask good questions and my grand daughter thought I was smart and interesting.

Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good ques

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Our customers are the same as my grand daughter, they want to be listened to and when we take a sincere interest in them, we make a great impression. Unfortunately, in the busy world of business today, few of us take the time to listen. Listening is the key to developing good questioning skills.

How To Lose A Sale - Don't Listen!

I was eating dinner with my wife, minutes after talking with my grand daughter, when I made a painful mistake. I stopped listening to her. Instead, I was listening to the NCAA championship game in the background. My wife asked me a question. In reality, all I heard was a noise coming from her side of the table. The thought stirred in my head, Opps, she is still talking to me. Realizing that I was caught, I did what any male would do, I faked it and said. "I agree with you honey." I still don't know what she said and we had a good laugh about it.

Here is my point; outside sales is 90% listening and 10% talking. I was able to take a tough challenge of communicating with a ten year old and making a huge impression. I later humiliated myself by not giving my wife the attention she deserves and if she had been a buyer, I would be losing a sale.

When we focus on the customer and eliminate all distractions from the outside, we can listen carefully enough to ask good questions, keep the customer talking and gain their trust. When we gain trust, we wi