Listening for the Rustle of Benjamins

She sat across from Donald Trump, fully expecting him to hire her, yet this precocious, pretentious tart talked over him, interrupted him, second-guessed him, and argued with him. If she had shut up and listened, she might have learned something. Instead, she simply guaranteed that she would never work for the Donald. Think about those Apprentices that got hired – did you notice that they listened to Mr. Trump? A famous self-improvement teacher once claimed that he could predict one’s level of future success by listening to them speak for a few minutes.

The best listeners are also the best negotiators, dealmakers, salespeople, and friends. By listening carefully to what someone has to say, you gain information and knowledge that will help you to understand his or her needs, wants, goals, fears and expectations. You learn nothing when you talk, but you can learn a lot when you listen. You will hear about opportunities and you will be able to decide whether or not you want to work with people.

Listen to the questions they ask, the statements they make, the conclusions they arrive at, and the way they interpret their circumstances, and you will know who will help you to become wealthy and who will drain your energy and your bank account. Listen for the clues that they generously cast about. Loser word clues are “But”, “If”, “Try”, “Perhaps” “I guess”, “Too good to be true”, “I hope”, and “I’ll do my best”. Winners commit, find reasons to succeed instead of excuses to fail, and take responsibility. They make it happen and expect to win. And they are intelligent enough to allow the experts to be the experts. They talk about opportunities, positive expectations, solutions, goals, and dreams. They focus on what they want, not on what they don’t want!

By using open-ended questions, like “Tell me more”, “Can you elaborate on that?” “Why?” “And?” and “How did you feel about that?” you can get people to open up and share a lot of valuable information with you. Joint Venture Brokers link supply and demand and get well paid for it. They agree with Zig Ziglar’s statement, “You can get anything you want out of life if you’re prepared to help enough other people to get what they want”, so they are sincerely interested in learning about the needs of others. Learn from experts, listen more than you talk, and you’re on the way to getting rich!

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com