We are in the business of listening

by: Dioni Morales, National Sales Manager

Let me tell you a true story.  Just last week my girls heard the ice cream truck.  Thinking that it had been awhile since I had bought them ice cream, I decided to go out and get them some. Well, the ice cream truck drove right past our house.  We were all screaming for him to stop, but he didn't.  Do you know why? The driver was talking on his phone!!! So I was left with two disappointed 3 year olds.  I was a bit upset, and immediately started thinking what was wrong with that picture. After all, what is the job of an ice cream truck driver? Stock up his truck with ice cream, go out and drive his route with the music playing, and watch for kids and parents who are ready to buy the ice cream. Why would he go to the trouble of taking his truck out if he was not going to listen to the people who actually make him money?

That got me thinking.... do we also do this sometimes? The answer, I'm afraid, is yes, we do.  We work with people, we show and sell our beautiful jewelry to people, and we are in the process of building a team of... you guessed it - people. If we want to know what their likes, their wants, their dreams, their goals, their challenges are, we need to truly listen to them. Author and businessman Bernard M. Baruch said: "Most of successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking."

Time and time again I have heard successful people in this industry talk about this concept. If we truly get to know the people we are working with, we can work with their strengths, and we can help them work on their weaknesses. We have to listen to what they have going on in their lives.  For example, if we are working with someone who works in an office full-time, has a couple of kids at home, and doesn't have time to do a lot of home parties, then we should concentrate on having her do more catalogue parties with her network. The point is to get to know everyone.  There's no better way to do that than to actively listen. I've always suggested that you take notes. Take notes about their personal situation, their desires, and their goals, so that we can help them achieve whatever is most important to them.

We are in the business of listening!  We can talk all we want, but unless we learn to listen to the people we are working with and for, we will be like that ice cream truck driver: making a lot of noise ... but not stopping for business!