As we moved into basic sales training, it was readily apparent that the challenge this group had was related to their communication skills. When we role-played, it was easy to see what they weren't doing, and that was listening.Listening is the first business communication skill we must master. If we don't, everything that occurs in the interaction has the chance to go awry. Zcode System That is what I mean by building from the ground up. The ground-level skill is listening.We think we are listening, but we often aren't. Here's what I noticed in the workshop. Instead of listening, they were already thinking of the next question they wanted to ask, or their response. Perhaps they heard the words, but they missed the essence of what was being said. And because of this, the conversation was at a superficial level.
They missed the opportunity to bond with the person they were speaking with so that person felt heard and understood.When no one is reasonably listening, instructions fall on deaf ears or are subject to misinterpretation. The basics, muchless the nuances, of client requests are often lost. Failure to listen, at any level of an organization, leads to errors, costly re-dos, and unneeded calls backs and emails.In the business world today, we value multitasking. With limited resources, people try to do more with their time. Ironically, in an era of texting, smart phones, instant messaging, communication can suffer. With multiple input challenges, we often set the stage to not hear anything clearly. Needless to say, the responses show the lack of true understanding.
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