The Forgotten Art that is Magic in Selling

• This taught me a lesson which I’ve had to learn: the importance of being a good listener, showing the other person you are sincerely interested in what she or he is saying, and giving her or him all the eager attention and appreciation that she or he craves and is so hungry for, but seldom gets!
• Try looking straight into the face of the next person who speaks to you, with eager, absorbed interest (even if it is your own partner), and see the magic effect it has both on yourself, and the one who is doing the talking.
• A famous movie director has said that many actors fail to become stars because they haven’t learned the art of creative listening.
• Experience has taught me that it is a good rule to make sure the other participant (client, friend, partner) does a liberal share of the talking in the first half. Then when I talk I am more sure of the facts, and more likely to have an attentive listener.

“Considering that in conversation knowledge was obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, I gave Silence second place among the virtues I determined to cultivate. (Benjamin Franklin)”

The most important secret of salesmanship is to find out what the other person wants, and then help her or him find the best way to get it.

Cultivate the art of asking questions. Questions, rather than positive statements, can be the most effective means of making a sale, or winning people to your way of thinking. Inquire rather than attack.

Find the key issue, the most vulnerable point, then stick to it.

Please tell me what you think. Do you catch yourself thinking about what you’re going to say, rather than listening attentively?