In tonight’s episode of “A Drink With The Hurricane” I want to talk to you about a skill that I think too many Home Care Marketers, business owners, and executive directors don’t do as well as we should. That deficiency is ACTIVE LISTENING. Active listening is probably the single most important skill set we have to share when we’re interacting with others to develop business relationships.
- No One Wants to Just Listen to You Talk About Your Business Ad Naseum! – Your potential client wants to sit across from someone who is interested in them; in their life. They want to refer their patients to a person who can LISTEN. Us Home Care Marketers are usually terrific talkers, but to excel in your business, you need to perfect an interactive conversation.
- How Do We Actively Listen? – It’s a common mistake that active listening is just sitting still and being quiet. NO! That is not active listening! ACTIVE listening is actually guiding the conversation to get the other person to open up. For example, if I’m meeting you for the first time I would introduce myself and say, “Hi, I’m Steve ‘The Hurricane’, owner of Hurricane Marketing Enterprises. What’s your name?” See how I’ve opened up the conversation? After you’ve told me your name, I would ask, “What do you do?” Then I would ask “How long you’ve been there?” or “What do you think about the place you work?”….anything to open you up to talk about yourself. That, my friends, is ACTIVE listening.
- Active Listening is 60/40 – Sixty percent of a conversation should be listening and engaging the other person to speak about their own life and their business. Forty percent of the conversation should be talking about your own business. When someone asks you a question, always answer it and be sure it’s an honest answer. Then turn it right back on them. In order for you to be actively listening…the other person needs to be actively talking.
- Ask Questions! – This is a strong skill set that we all have to use and develop in order for potential clients to know, like, and trust us enough to give us referrals! When you’re finished answering their question, return by asking them a question so you can keep the conversation going. My recommendation is that you have a set 5-10 questions that you regularly ask people, and choose a few of them whenever you meet someone new.
Contact Us – My team and I are always here to help you out. So folks, if you have questions about what we can do to help grow your business, call us at 1-877-THE EXPERT. Follow me on Facebook and interact directly with me. Finally, I urge you to Sign up for our Newsletter which will give you a new video each week full of marketing tips that will help you BLOW AWAY THE COMPETITION!!