Listening is a skill that solves problems. Listening is an art and it closes deals. Unfortunately many people don’t have this skill or neglect the opportunity to sharpen it.
Many people talk but do not listen.
When you listen, you hear the pain, you hear the struggle, you hear the frustration, you hear the limitations, you hear the confusion. After you have listened, then offer tailored solutions.
It is counterproductive to offer solutions to clients who don’t need them. I have even seen businesses offer solutions to businesses who do the same thing [and provide the same solutions]. It shows they didn’t listen and didn’t do their home work.
Really? Yes. I have seen coaches reach out to coaches to coach them what they coach their clients. I reckon we can safely assume that perhaps he or she wants to be the coach of “the coach.”
However, that wasn’t the case in the example. A lack of research was the issue, an undeniable quest for the next hustle with a disregard for the needs of the potential client.
If you are in sales or pitching a client, please listen and do your homework. Sometimes what is needed isn’t actually spoken in words but you can still hear it. I will stop there for now without going too deep. :)
Are you listening on your assignment? Have you closed deals because you listened?
Belinda is an award winning thought leader on mindset, global speaker, privacy and cybersecurity professional, AI governance leader, 5X author, executive coach and strategist. Through consulting, conference keynotes, and corporate trainings, she helps individuals to achieve goals, and make maximum impact in their spheres of influence.
