Half of my job is coaching the other half is training. Recently, I’ve been training a group of leaders in a national firm on Coaching Skills. Most people think that learning how to coach is going to be easy. What’s so hard, the “Coach” is just having a conversation? Then they try it. Suddenly, it’s a lot harder than it looks.
Most new coaches have a hard time focusing on the person they are coaching. Doing the coaching takes up so much mental focus that attending to the other person goes way down. This is trouble, since a critical competency for coaching is highly skilled listening.
I’ve repeatedly seen new coaches miss hugely valuable information because they’re too caught up in the coaching process. They blow right by the “gold” in the conversation. The skilled coach will recognize the gold buried in all the conversational dirt, dig it out and use it. It is the currency that drives productivity and results. So what does this have to do with you?
Well, the same thing happens when you talk to clients. Most successful professionals have spent years honing the art of talking. When you’re focused on talking you’re not focused on listening. I suspect a lot of conversational gold and monetary gold has stayed buried in the client, because a skilled talker has not developed skilled listening.
There is no time like the present to add new skills and unearth some new gold!
Fact of the Day
Everything I read emphasizes how the successful sales techniques of the past, just don’t work anymore. Consumers are too cynical and sophisticated now. Even worse, they get turned off by anyone who appears to be too “selling” them. This is true for women and for all consumers. The disruption in the markets have not helped. New research in financial services indicates one-third of clients have switched advisors (see the link below).
Tip of the Day
Stop talking! Develop your listening skills. It is an entirely different art. There is conversational gold and monetary gold that is waiting to be unearthed by the professional who can be a laser-focused listener.
New Market Research
For those who like to see new data visit the link below to find new market research on how many clients have switched advisors
http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2932&Itemid=77
