Ask people if they have good communication skills and almost always they would say YES!
Yet, the majority of time, in my conversations with people, I have discovered their communication level to be less than acceptable .
The other day, I sent someone an e-mail asking him to look over the attached images and tell me which one he likes the best. He responded “it’s great!”
Huh?
I re-read my e-mail again to see if I somehow miscommunicated my request. It was clear and simple; “which one do you like the best”. Therefore, his answer was irrelevant at best.
In my experience, whenever I didn’t close a sale, I knew instinctively that my communication was off. Either I talked too much and didn’t listen to the person in front of me or I tried too hard to “sell” instead of just listening and paying attention to “their” need.
Good communication isn’t just about diction, pronunciation or the ability to speak. While these are important and should be a standard part of your everyday work life, it is the ability to listen that will move you to professional status.
Here’s the truth, nobody cares about you or your products except you. No matter how good you are, no one gives a shit about it; only you. I know it hurts! But let’s face it, people love themselves, not you. That is why they love to talk about themselves.
Your success depends upon fully understanding that their need are much more important than yours; that they are the ones that matters.
Tips To Remember
1. When you interject or interrupt someone, you are being disrespectful.
2. When you look bored in front of someone, you are being disrespectful.
3. Every time you glance at your phone instead of listening, you are being disrespectful. Or worst, answer your phone while talking to someone as if the caller is more important than the person in front of you (without excusing yourself).
4. Not acknowledging communication (this is big) is also disrespectful.
I use the word “disrespectful” more than once to make a point. When you correlate these actions to being “disrespectful”, you will more likely remember to avoid making these mistakes.
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