Look for “Listening Opportunities”

“Business breakfasts" or other networking type events can be a great opportunity for you to meet new people and make contact with potential business partners and customers - If you know the right way to interact with people, that is.

A common mistake is to fall into the trap of thinking that you have talk about yourself first.

Instead of doing that, here's an approach that I used when I networked at a meeting of corporate business leaders and owners. You can easily adapt it for your own situation.

As you can probably imagine there is a lot of "nervous energy" and "anxiety" flowing when people are trying to put themselves in the best light possible telling each other about their services.

However, doing that can actually produce poor results. With everyone wanting to get their "say" in - most people are not listening!

So what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation? Simple! Turn your telling into a “Listening Opportunity” and…

Stop Telling (Selling) and Start Discovering

Stop the unproductive idea of talking about yourself, and instead ask about them and listen and respond to what they have to say.

Doing so keeps you calm while you quickly qualify people as to whether there is any value talking with them later on. There is no faster way to increase your bottom line as well!

Here's how it worked for me and what I found was a great "ice breaker".

In a light hearted way I asked the question after introducing myself…

“So how can I help you?!!"

Usually the reply that came back with a grin was…

“I don’t know! How can you help me?”

Too which I would respond with a smile…

“I don’t know either, though we can soon find out… what kind of business are you in?”

Once I had established that I was talking with the right person in terms of what I had to offer, I then went on to ask these types of questions…

“What do you find are your greatest challenges in the area of your sales or sales people?”
"Do you ever feel you or your sales people could be more effective but not sure how?"
"Are you satisfied with the results your sales people are getting for you?
"What sort of challenges do you face with selling your products/services?"
“How is that affecting you?”
“Does that also possible affect you in the area of (describe a knock-on effect)"
“Have you done anything, or are you doing anything to resolve these challenges?”
“How did that work out?”
“What did you feel worked/didn’t work?”
“If you could do it all over again, would you do it differently?”
“Have you thought about what you think the problem might be?”

“What if the reason you’re only doing marginally better when you took that course of action, is because the cause of your problem might not be what you think it is… what if it was because of something else? Have you ever thought about that?”

Of course, adapt these questions to fit your own situation.

I let them talk and all I did was listen, ask them to expand on the answers they gave and ask more questions.

At the right time I would then make a short statement followed by a question…

“The reason I’m asking is… (customizing how what I do could help this person) and if this is something of interest to you, perhaps I could give you a call tomorrow to explore further about whether we might be able to do something together… would that be OK for you?”

The answer was always "Yes" because we were talking about something that was important to them.

It was Fast and Precise

Each “listening opportunity" took no more than 2- 4 minutes, after which I moved on to the next "listening opportunity".

The world is full of opportunities when you rethink the way you think, question conventional wisdom and do things differently!

The key to creating a "Listening Opportunity" I described is knowing how to ask the right types of questions at the right time. This isn't hard, but you do need to shift your thinking a little.

Chapter 10 of my book "How to Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!" is titled "The Art Of Asking Questions" and reveals the secrets to using this approach to help you achieve your goals quickly and easily.

Subsequent chapters go further and illustrate how to use questions in practice and in a range of different circumstances.

Have a peaceful and prosperous…

Best Selling Author of "How to Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!" - Selling from the Soul. Ancient Wisdoms. Modern Practice.

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