March 18, 2013
It was a taste of my own medicine I guess! For years I’ve been preaching the importance of listening. Not just being politely quiet when the other person is speaking, but really listening. Paying attention. I’ve talked about listening for people rather than simply to them and shared Stephen Covey’s thoughts about empathetic listening. But listening requires work and practice and it’s easy to get distracted without realising it and fail to listen. As was brought home to me recently.
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February 15, 2013
Over the years I have run many seminars and training sessions on referrals strategy. I have asked a lot of business audiences where their best and most effective new leads come from and the vast majority will always reply ‘word of mouth’, ‘recommendation’ or ‘referral’. Yet, when I ask specifically for them to describe what strategy people have in place, I am met with blank looks. On the whole, companies believe that if they deliver good service, their customers will refer them naturally. This is a passive approach, and in reality quality referrals are unlikely to be forthcoming.
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