Let’s discuss the importance of listening. I want to talk about the importance of using these twice as much as use this.
Now God gave us two ears and one mouth and I think He did it for the very explicit reason of just spending more time listening.
Particularly as an adviser when you’re sitting there with your client, whether that’s initial consultations or it’s the ongoing client engagement, you’ve got to do a lot more listening because there’s a risk as advisers, as experts in our space, that we know what the client wants and we’ll just go off and start implementing the solution.
That’s a really big assumption that can leave you in a place that’s a long way away from what the client thought might be an optimal outcome for them. So just spend some time to listen to the little nuances that your client?s putting out there because it might not be all about the thing that’s in your mind.
You might be about the metrics, you might be about a dollar outcome. But there’s some there’s some more qualitative kind of outcomes that they’re looking for. You know, they want they want to get there quicker, or they they want less hassle, or they’re not prepared to sacrifice A, B and C to achieve the outcome. Think about what it is that they really want. Listen to what they’re telling you and the little nuances that come through in conversation and try and craft your solution to get them the outcome that they want.
That way you’re both heading in the same direction.
So that’s my tip for today: spend a little bit more time listening and less time rushing off and implementing your solution.
I’m Andrew Abel.
