Sales Growth

Strategies
By Brian Tracy

How to Listen - Double Your Influence with Others

Introduction

T he most important people in every organization are those who are the most influential
and persuasive with others. The more people like and respect you, the more open
they are to your inputs and ideas. The more persuasive you become, the more effective
you will be in everything you do.

One of your major aims in life is to build and maintain better relationships with more
people. The more friends you have, the happier you will be. The more people who know
you in a positive way, the more successful you will be in every area of your life.

Learning to listen well to others is a key quality of both personality and leadership.
The better you become at listening, the more liked, respected and trusted you will be
and the more rapidly your relationships will improve, both at home and at work.

In this lesson, you will learn the most important techniques even discovered for building
and maintaining high quality relationships with other people.

In this lesson you will learn:

■ The four keys to effective listening

■ The four elements of a sales presentation

■ The four key areas in business where listening is essential

■ The four key listening styles

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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What Do You Already Know?

Test your knowledge by attempting to answer the questions below.

1. What is the key determinant of your success in life and business?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

2. Why is listening such a key quality of leadership?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

3. What the most important single skill of listening?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

4. What happens when you paraphrase other person’s words before you respond?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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5. Why should you dominate the listening rather than trying to dominate the talking in
the conversation?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

6. What are the business areas where listening skills are extremely important?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

7. What are the different listening styles that you can use to be more effective?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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How to Listen and Double your Influence with Others

1. Your happiness should be your major aim in life, and 85% of your
happiness comes from your relationships with others.

a) One of the great aims in life is to build and maintain better relationships
with more people;

b) Your success in life will be largely determined by the number of people

you know, and who know and like you in return;

c) You always like people better when they are genuinely interested in you
and when they listen closely to what you have to say.

21 You always listen to the people you most value and care about.

a) You ignore people who you don’t value and don’t care about;

b) Everything counts! The way you listen or fail to listen sends a message
that effects the way people think about you, feel about you, and trust
you and your ideas;

c) The most popular and effective people in every area are good listeners.
Listening is a key quality of leadership.

3. There are four keys to effective listening. The more you learn and practice
these listening skills, the more popular and influential you will become.

a) Listen attentively – listen without interruptions:

1. Lean forward, face the person directly;

2. Nod, smile, agree – be fully engaged;

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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 3. Make no attempt to interject or interrupt;

4. Rapt attention is the highest form of flattery;

5. Intensive listening raises the blood pressure, respiratory rate,

self-esteem, and feelings of value in the person being listened to;

6. Rule: Listening builds trust!

b) Pause before replying – allow moments of silence:

1. Pausing avoids the possibility of interrupting;

2. Pausing enables you to hear better;

3. Pausing tells the speaker that you are carefully considering

his/her words.

c) Question for clarification – shows a genuine interest

in the speaker:

1. Never assume you understand completely;

2. Questions encourage the speaker to expand on his/her thoughts;

3. Questions give you a chance to listen;

4. Best question? “How do you mean?”

5. Other good questions begin with: “What, Where, When, Who,

How and Why;”

6. The person who asks questions has control.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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 d) Feed it back; paraphrase it in your own words:

1. Paraphrasing is the “Acid test” of listening;

2. Paraphrasing proves to the speaker that you were really listening;

3. This puts you in a position to reply and to present more effectively.

4. Look upon every relationship where you attempt to influence,

persuade or negotiate as a sales presentation.

a) 40% of good selling is building trust;

b) 30% of good selling is accurately identifying the needs and wants of the
other person, tune into his/her genuine problems and concerns;

c) 20% of selling is presenting your ideas – as the best way for the other
person to achieve his/her goals;

d) The final 10% of selling is checking for understanding, getting agreement,

commitment and confirmation;

e) Asking good questions and listening closely are essential to success

at every stage.

5. Practice the 70/30 Rule in conversation.

a) Dominate the listening: Let the speaker dominate the talking;

b) You can talk yourself out of a sale or a deal – but it’s hard to
listen yourself out of one.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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6. There are several areas in business where listening skills can be very
powerful communication devices:

a) Interviewing – to recruit or hire a person – ask questions and encourage

the other to talk;

b) Disciplining and performance feedback – state your area of

concern and then ask questions;

c) Complaints – from customers, bosses – hear them out completely without

explaining or defending:

1. Ask, “What exactly happened?”

2. Ask, “How do you mean?”

3. Ask, “Can you give me an example?”

d) Selling – when you experience objections or resistance;

e) Ask questions, listening intently to the answers.

7. There are four listening styles.

a) Listen to understand – ask questions;

b) Listen to help – be patience, sympathetic;

c) Reflective listening – paraphrase the speaker’s thoughts and feelings;

d) Active listening – be fully engaged in the speaker’s words.

You have two ears and one mouth; you should use them in that ratio.

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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Action Exercises

1. Who are the three people in your life who most determine your success
and happiness?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

2.

What are the three main areas in your work life where better listening
can be most helpful?

1._ ________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3._ ________________________________________________________________

3. What are the three main areas in your personal life where better listening
can be most helpful?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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4. What are the three advantages that leaders gain by listening rather than talking?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

5. What are the three key behaviors you can practice to be a more attentive listener?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

6. What are the three main advantages or benefits of questioning for clarification?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

7. What are the three reasons why listening builds trust?

1. _________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

3. _________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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What one action are you going to take as a result of what you learned in this lesson?

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

© Brian Tracy. All rights reserved. The contents, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form for any purpose without the written permission of Brian Tracy.

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