Realtor's Hear a Who?

Hello all you Realtors out in Whoville? Are you listening? No, are you really listening???

I just came back from a Women's Leadership Seminar and I had the opportunity to listen. I listened to feedback from others, and for an extended period of time I got to listen to myself. Wow! What powerful messages they were.

Then I came home and picked up where I left off in Susan Scott's, Fierce Conversations book. O.K. Do you think the universe was trying to tell me something about my communication skills???

As with everything I read and experience, I always bring it to my life and see how I am showing up in that area. So lately I have been paying attention to how I listen and how I engage with others in conversation. There's a great line from the movie Pulp Fiction where Uma Thurman says to John Travolta, "Do you wait to talk or do you just listen."

I found that I had so much to say that often times I would talk over someone to get my point across, or, I would be so excited about what I had to say that I took the wind from their sail.

And, how many times have we been on the phone with clients and we are checking our email or multitasking only to hear bits and pieces of the conversation. Come on, admit it, we've all done it. This really hit home for me when I was talking to someone yesterday and I could tell she was not engaged in the conversation. If she were my Realtor, that would be our last conversation. As a friend, I felt very "unheard"

These are not very pretty things to admit, but awareness is half the battle. So all you people in Whoville, here's my advice today....be present! I mean 100% present in the conversations with your clients. Listen to ALL they have to say, even if it's the story about their ailing grandma - just listen.

As professionals we know what we have to say and when we have to say it. Our clients want to be heard, let them speak!