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Business Growth 1
Sun warming the earth
Place with opportunity
Sweet home Chicago
By Paul R.
Lloyd
Your ability
to listen
The sun was high in the
southern sky despite the late afternoon time. I handed Frank a glass
of iced tea with a sprig of mint from the garden. If you look out my
office window, you’ll see the mint near the back fence. On a good
day, you’ll watch squirrels dancing along the fence tops and
cardinals adding their flame red color to the green of the ash tree.
“It’s time for
me to hit the road.” Frank sipped his iced tea like he wasn’t
planning to go anywhere.
I stared at him
until he smiled.
“Yeah, I do
have one more question.” Frank waved his iced tea in the air
gathering thoughts. “We’ve talked about where sales come from, how
you have to rely on the expertise of your team, and how I need to
flex to meet customer demands and so does my company. But it seems
like something is missing.”
I poured
another iced tea while absorbing what Frank was saying. By the time
I had the lemon slice tucked neatly into my glass, I had an answer.
“One thing we haven’t touched on is listening. When you listen, you
hear things that help you understand the problem the prospect is
trying to solve.”
“That part I
think I understand. If I’m rushing ahead trying to make my pitch,
I’m may miss something important the prospect is trying to tell me.”
I nod. “This
has obvious implications for the product or service you are selling.
It also provides valuable information for distinguishing yourself
from your competition in the ways we’ve talked about.”
“What do you
mean?”
“Listening lets
you know that you have to be flexible in your company's terms.
Listening tells you that the prospect has interests in another part
of the world where you know someone who can be of service. Listening
allows you to eliminate your competition by offering to meet your
client over breakfast instead of during the regular business day, if
that's what it takes to seal the deal. Listening lets you know what
problem the prospect is willing to pay to have go away.”
“Pays to
listen, as they say.” Frank smiled. If his hands would reach that
far, I’m sure he’d be patting himself on the back.
“If you are
passionate about business success, take your selling effort to the
next level by looking for the little added values that you can bring
to the table. Deals are made or lost in the arena of "added value"
rather than product features and benefits. And it all begins with
listening.”
To read the
previous installments in this series, please visit…
1.
http://www.zuklloyd.com/news/news1.htm#Article
2.
http://www.zuklloyd.com/news05/biz_growth1.htm
3.
http://www.zuklloyd.com/news06/biz_growth2.htm
4.
http://www.zuklloyd.com/news07/biz_growth1.htm
Zuk-Lloyd Associates, Inc. – Creative writing and art solutions.
We help
clients increase sales by turning ordinary business information into
extraordinary stories.
Contact:
Paul R. Lloyd
630-393-6516
info@zuklloyd.com
www.zuklloyd.com
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