I was recently reminded of a saying that one of my early mentors used; " The first one that talks loses". He was referring to my non stop, but enthusiastic, talking. It's easy to get excited about a product or service that you have and in trying to make the "sale", we forget to practice our "listening skills".

Listening involves a lot of different aspects, a lot of things that we must remember and practice.

• First is to stop talking. It is impossible to listen and talk at the same time. You can't answer a client's questions if you never heard it.
• Second, is to stop anticipating what the other person is going to say. Don't interrupt by saying I know just what you mean or I know just what you are going to say.
• Listening means just that, open your mind and heart and listen to what is being said. Stop trying to figure out what you are going to say next.
• Learn to let go of your opinion and your desire to be right, by  going in with a preconceived notion of what is good for the client.
• Last but not least, stop judging.
  

Listening is also the most important skill one needs to learn to successfully  network.  Through listening you build a bond of trust. By listening you gather information to help others, both in your networking  group and when working with clients.

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A professional networker is someone who attentively listens... to a subject he knows everything about... told by someone who knows nothing about it.

Have a great day!
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