1. percent of their day listening to others.
Moreover, during a sales interaction,
it is recommended that a sales
professional spend 80 percent of the
time listening to the customer. Now,
think about your own experiences with
salespeople. How many do you know
who actually do that?
LISTENING
The simple fact is that ineffective
listening behaviors such as pre-
judging the speaker, completing
someone’s sentences, assuming that
you understand what the speaker is
saying, interrupting, poor eye contact,
and ignoring nonverbal messages are
costing even small companies tens of
thousands of dollars in lost profits.
Poor listening not only results in lower
productivity and unplanned waste,
but also has an immense negative
Is Anybody Listening? emotional impact on your people. At a
By Jerry Scher, Principal, Peak Focus LLC time when it is so difficult to find and
keep productive employees, can we
Have you ever been frustrated because an employee didn’t follow really afford to ignore the impact of
directions? Have you ever had to redo a job or an order, at your the daily communication problems that
expense, because a customer service representative or sales exist in all our companies? As stated
person misinterpreted your customer’s requirements? Have you earlier, managers spend 45 percent
ever had to referee a conflict between competing departments? If of their time listening. And, research
you’ve ever encountered these or similar situations, then you have indicates that typical managers listen
dealt with the repercussions of ineffective communication. Have effectively only 25 percent of the time.
you ever stopped to calculate the precious hours or dollars that They confuse listening and hearing.
are wasted when people fail to communicate properly? The figures Listening should be active, not passive,
might overwhelm you! involving a more sophisticated mental
process. You must learn to listen with
The ability to communicate always tops the list of critical skills your eyes, ears, and heart.
required to succeed. Every aspect of building a business or a team
is reliant upon employees throughout your organization being able People have a desperate need to
to communicate effectively with internal and external customers. be listened to. They want to be
acknowledged by their peers and
Throughout our educational experiences, we are taught to managers. In fact, you will earn the
speak, read, and write. Unfortunately, very few people receive respect of your employees simply by
any formal training in the art of listening – the most critical of all taking the time to actively listen to
communication skills. them. How many times have you met
with unhappy employees and quickly
Research indicates that during a manager’s typical day s/he spends offered advice when all they really
more than 45 percent of the time listening. In fact, surveys have wanted was the opportunity to work
indicated that the most successful executives spend 50 to 60 through a problem and vent their
2. emotions? time and stay focused on you, without becoming
distracted.
The fact of the matter is…if you want to be
interesting, be interested. If you focus on listening TYPE OF LISTENERS
rather than on speaking, you will become highly
regarded. Most people love to talk about themselves. Let’s take a look at three different types of listeners.
Therefore, if you are a good listener, you will be Most of us listen at all three of these levels at
sought out. If you want to be received as a resource, different times. The type of listening behavior we
demonstrate that you care by exercising positive exhibit is usually dependent upon how we feel and to
listening behavior. This trait can be particularly whom we are listening.
effective in sales situations. If you are not sure about
the effectiveness of this, think about how it felt the Active/Empathetic Listener Active, empathetic
last time someone really listened to you. Now think listeners pay close attention to verbal and nonverbal
about the last time someone wouldn’t listen to you, messages and remember what they hear. They make
or only listened half-heartedly. good eye contact and provide positive emotional
feedback after listening – working at advancing
COMMUNICATION ATTITUDE relationships with people. They paraphrase and ask
clarifying questions in an effort to accomplish two-
Most of us find it difficult to listen to someone way communication. (85-100 score on assessment)
completely. In fact, it is not uncommon to
finish another person’s statement, either verbally Part-Time Listener Part-time listeners very often
or mentally. Stop and think about how it feels when hear, but don’t listen. They don’t dig for the inner
someone does this to you. One of the reasons for this meaning of what is being said. They only partially
behavior is that we speak at 200 words per minute, concentrate on the speaker and become easily
but can listen at about 500 words per minute. And, distracted. They give the appearance of listening –
when you get bored, your mind races or wanders. listening logically, but not emotionally. (60-84 on
assessment)
In order to correct this communication deficiency,
we must carefully concentrate on what the speaker Indifferent Listener Indifferent listeners are passive
is saying, and try to understand the underlying listeners. They believe that hearing and listening
meaning. Ask clarifying questions or paraphrase are the same. They have the tendency to pre-
to ensure your understanding of what is really judge people and don’t try to understand the other
being said. This process starts with a positive person’s point of view. They would prefer to do most
communication attitude. In other words, you have to of if the talking and typically spend the rest of their
care about the other person and what they are trying time formulating their rebuttal rather that listening
to communicate. When you care, people know it. to what is being said. (0-59 on assessment)
POSITIVE LISTENING BEHAVIOR If you’re uncertain into which category you fall, take
the Listening Skills Quick Self Assessment. In less
Many of us know what it takes to be a good listener; than five minutes, you’ll have your answer, and even
we just don’t implement what’s required. Think insights into becoming a better listener. Certainly five
about the behavior of those you know who listen minutes exceptionally well spent!
well. Most likely they care about you and concentrate
on what you are saying. They make eye contact and COST JUSTIFICATION
don’t pre-judge you; they are willing to accept your
point of view even if they don’t agree with it. As business people, we have to be able to justify
the time and money we invest in training our
When they don’t understand what you’ve said, they people. Fortunately, effective communications
ask questions and even paraphrase your statement, training is not costly, and your return on investment
giving you the opportunity to better articulate your will likely be significant. The savings generated by
message. Finally, they are willing to give you their reducing mistakes, improving employee teamwork,
