Did you hear that?

One of, if not the, most important exercises you can engage in while interfacing with prospects and clients is to listen. Listening is a learned behavior and will get you farther down the road to a trusted relationship than almost anything short of showing up with a check! People love to talk and they especially love to talk about those things that are dear to them. Listening is a skill and one that requires focus. More often than not many people listen so they will know what to say when the other party has finished talking. Listen to learn. When listening carefully, you can learn not only from what is being said but from what is not being said. Listening can be very difficult especially if you are in the group of people that live to interrupt. Interrupting means that what you have to say is more important that what the other person is saying. Interrupting is rude. When the other person is talking, take notes so you can respond quickly and precisely about what you heard them say. If you are compelled to interrupt always say: "excuse me for interrupting". But interrupt at your own peril. People love people that will listen. Two ears-one mouth, you do the math.