Bob Barker retired in 2007 after fifty years as an American icon and host of "The Price Is Right." Mr. Barker, when asked why his career was such a tremendous success, said that the key to his success is listening. "When I talk with someone, I listen. And I think if you do, you're going to find little nuggets of gold."
Want your business to succeed? Take a tip from Bob Barker - listen to your clients and find those nuggets of gold.
Recently I was reviewing a set of plans that a client had drawn up, and I couldn't understand some of the features that he had incorporated into his "dream home." For instance, he had drawn a small nook in the family room that jutted out into the side porch. This area simply did not work. It was square, isolated, and intruded into another architectural feature. I thought that maybe if we clipped a corner, making it a forty-five degree angle, the space would flow into the rest of the room.
In the first meeting with the client to discuss his design, I discovered that they homeschool their five children. They needed a space where one kid could sit and read without being visually distracted, while feeling like he was still part of the family. So the client had designed this rectangular nook with a window seat and bookshelves off of the family room. Now that's a real form and function gold nugget! We will now be able to provide value to our client while helping him redesign his home because we took the time to listen and get to know his family and lifestyle.
It is common for our many of our clients have rooms in their home that have such fond memories attached to them that it is difficult for them to lose those spaces to a new design. Finding out what those spaces are is not always easy when meeting with the clients. Sometimes we don't find out how attached the clients themselves are to an existing room until we present the new design that has done away with the old space.
I recently designed an addition that did away with the bedroom that the client had grown up in. Who could blame the client for not wanting to part with the room that held so many fond childhood memories, despite the fact that she loved the new design?
I'd be willing to bet that better listening skills would have saved us a considerable amount of design time, and spared her the shock of seeing her bedroom eliminated.
If good listening skills add value to our product and save us time and money, what exactly are appropriate listening skills?
A quick google search reveals that good listening skills include:
-Using eye contact
-Waiting for the speaker to finish their sentence
-Asking relevant questions
-Striving to understand the speaker
-Restating or summarizing the speaker's ideas
-Showing genuine interest in the speaker
If you want to be successful, Dale Carnegie said, you need to be genuinely interested in other people. Are you listening?
Want your business to succeed? Take a tip from Bob Barker - listen to your clients and find those nuggets of gold.
Recently I was reviewing a set of plans that a client had drawn up, and I couldn't understand some of the features that he had incorporated into his "dream home." For instance, he had drawn a small nook in the family room that jutted out into the side porch. This area simply did not work. It was square, isolated, and intruded into another architectural feature. I thought that maybe if we clipped a corner, making it a forty-five degree angle, the space would flow into the rest of the room.
In the first meeting with the client to discuss his design, I discovered that they homeschool their five children. They needed a space where one kid could sit and read without being visually distracted, while feeling like he was still part of the family. So the client had designed this rectangular nook with a window seat and bookshelves off of the family room. Now that's a real form and function gold nugget! We will now be able to provide value to our client while helping him redesign his home because we took the time to listen and get to know his family and lifestyle.
It is common for our many of our clients have rooms in their home that have such fond memories attached to them that it is difficult for them to lose those spaces to a new design. Finding out what those spaces are is not always easy when meeting with the clients. Sometimes we don't find out how attached the clients themselves are to an existing room until we present the new design that has done away with the old space.
I recently designed an addition that did away with the bedroom that the client had grown up in. Who could blame the client for not wanting to part with the room that held so many fond childhood memories, despite the fact that she loved the new design?
I'd be willing to bet that better listening skills would have saved us a considerable amount of design time, and spared her the shock of seeing her bedroom eliminated.
If good listening skills add value to our product and save us time and money, what exactly are appropriate listening skills?
A quick google search reveals that good listening skills include:
-Using eye contact
-Waiting for the speaker to finish their sentence
-Asking relevant questions
-Striving to understand the speaker
-Restating or summarizing the speaker's ideas
-Showing genuine interest in the speaker
If you want to be successful, Dale Carnegie said, you need to be genuinely interested in other people. Are you listening?
About the Author:
Jonathan Cawley is an experienced freelance writer, and his website, Raleigh SEO Consulting, contains lots of articles and tips by other noted SEO writers. That's http://raleighseoconsulting.com
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