The Top 7 Mistakes
Poor Listeners Make
"The Top Seven Mistakes Poor Listeners Make"
1. Interrupting
Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone that kept
finishing your sentences for you? Have you ever had someone answer your
question before you could finish asking it? Don't you find that
irritating?
Lesson from the coach: Even at the risk of losing an important thought,
never interrupt another person, especially a prospect. It's okay for a
prospect to interrupt you but it's never okay for you to interrupt him
or her.
2. Talking Too Much
Everybody loves to talk. The trouble is, network marketers talk more
than any other group I know of when they get around a prospect. They
talk about themselves; they hawk their products; they can't resist
telling them about the business. Talk, talk, talk.
Enough already!
Network marketers that talk more than they listen usually talk
themselves right out of the business.
Lesson from the coach: Shut up, ask questions and let the prospect have
all of the fun talking. You might just learn something.
3. Matching the Prospect's Points
Here's the scenario: A prospect tells a distributor about a situation he
(she) had once and the distributor immediately jumps in with something
like, "Oh, yeah, I had something like that happen to me too. It all
started when..."
Or, another situation might be that a prospect mentions in the
conversation that she has grandchildren and the distributor thinks he
will score points if he tells her about his grandchildren.
Lesson from the coach: The prospect doesn't care about you. She didn't
invite you there to discover how interesting you are. You don't matter.
You're chopped liver. She wants to focus on herself. Listen to what she
has to say and quit thinking about you.
4. Editorializing in Midstream
In a presentation a prospect says something the network marketer has
emotional feelings about and he decides to express them... ("You know,
here's how I personally feel about that. Blah, blah blah...")
Lesson from the coach: The prospect doesn't care about what you think.
(As long as it doesn't adversely affect him or her.) Keep your opinions
to yourself.
5. Solving Problems Too Soon
This is one of the most blatant mistakes that I see all of the time:
The network marketer hears the prospect express a need (that can easily
be met with the company's products and services) and he immediately
offers to meet the need. (Yes, I know, it's very difficult not to
respond to a burning need.)
Offering solutions to problems before listening to a prospect's complete
situation will have an adverse effect on any presentation or prospecting
call.
Lesson from the coach: Listen to ALL of the needs the prospect may have
and try to extract the ones he is really passionate about solving. In
other words, shut up (there it is again) and ask questions. Present your
solutions and benefits later when they have more emotional power.
6. Being Judgmental
Let's say that as you are talking with a prospect you discover that he
or she has beliefs, ideas and/or philosophies that are exactly the
opposite of your own, what do you do?
One of the worst things you can do is to make a judgement about that
person and let it show. Judging people takes the focus off of them
(where it belongs) and places it on you (where it doesn't). You cannot
be listening on a deep level if everything your prospect says makes you
think of you.
Lesson from the coach: Practice listening to people without thinking of
yourself. Ignore your own opinions and judgements. When you give your
presentation, let them decide the value for themselves and you stay out
of the way. If they ask you a question, answer it but keep it
non-judgmental.
7. Thinking of Your Next Question
It's impossible to think about two things at exactly the same time. If
you are thinking about what question you will ask next during a
presentation, you will not hear what your prospect just told you. Then
you run the risk of your prospect discovering that you were not
listening.
Lesson from the coach: Don't worry about your next question. Study your
questions before you approach or present to prospects and then forget
about all of them except your opening question. Listen very carefully to
what your prospect is saying and your subconscious mind will
automatically feed the right questions to you at the right time.
NOTE from the coach: Okay, so these are some common mistakes people make
regarding listening. Would you like to become a great listener? If so, I
invite you to join me for a free "Selling By Attraction" TeleClass. See
below.
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FREE Training TeleClass:
You can learn (for free) some simple language formulas that are so
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This is a 55-minute teleconference program (TeleClass) that will
introduce you to my 8-week "Selling By Attraction" Program.
In this sample TeleClass, you will learn:
How to attract only the very best leaders to your business.
How to make prospecting and presenting natural, fun and downright
irresistible to your prospects.
Powerful questions that cause your prospects to talk themselves into
buying your products and/or enrolling into your business. (Warning: You
may become upset because you didn't know these questions existed before
this class.)
For date/time and to register for a sample training session, CLICK HERE.
You will receive (by email) a confirmation message with the
teleconference bridge number to call and a description of the program.
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"Quote of the Day"
"You cannot expect your downline members to do reasonably well that what
you cannot do extremely well."
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"Great Questions You Need To Be Asking"
Here are a few more great questions from my popular "Flash Cards"
Questioning System:
"Can you think of any reason why you would not want to be a part of this
program?"
"Do you see how you will benefit by enrolling in this program?"
"Where do you want your bonus checks sent to?"
Note: Like these questions? There are 272 more in my "Flash Card"
Program. For more information, CLICK HERE.
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Until the next issue...
Hilton Johnson,
The MLM Coach™
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