I’ve been working with Steve Chandler as my business coach for over seven years now, without a break or gap. Often in our conversations, I share an interaction I have had with a potential client who didn’t end up with them hiring me, and I’d be open and interested in what Steve thought about it.
Almost every time he would come out with suggestions and ideas which seemed beyond brilliant and I would be sitting in my chair thinking – “how on earth did I not see that? How is this guy so smart?”.
What I realised was, whilst Steve is way more experienced than I am, it wasn’t just that. It wasn’t that he was smarter than me, it was because he was being a great listener.
This is true in every business or with anyone involved in some kind of sales work, but it’s especially true in coaching that clients are impacted through really deep listening. (And prospects who are deeply listened to, turn into clients).
That’s the case because often what clients are saying, in terms of words, is not really what’s going on. When we are able to deeply listen and ask the right incisive questions to get to the heart of the issue – and only when we get to the heart of the issue – that’s when deep transformation is really possible and once a prospective client experiences this transformation, that’s what has them hire you.
Check out this email that Steve sent out recently on listening:
What’s the role of LISTENING in client acquisition?
Dear Coaches,
The most underrated skill in the world of coaching is listening. It’s the great lost art in this age of aggressive ego, persuasion and agenda. The chattering mind lost in its own worrisome future rarely listens to the wonderful opportunities being handed to it by clients and prospects every moment of the day. These are my favorite listening quotes:
“I want to talk about the great and powerful thing that listening is. And how we forget it. And how we don’t listen to our children, or those we love. And least of all — which is so important to — to those we do not love. But it would be so different if we did. Because listening is a strange and magnetic thing, a creative force. You can see that when you think of how the friends who really listen to us are the ones we move toward, we want to sit in their radius, as though it did us good, like sunshine.”–BRENDA UELAND
“A Canadian bank executive recalled a listening program that one of his regions instituted. For about two weeks, all managers spent some time each day calling customers, asking ‘How are we doing?’ and ‘How can I help?’ The results, he reports, were phenomenal. The customer feedback was terrific. (‘How magnificent that you thought to call.’) Morale skyrocketed, and a bushel full of new business ensued.” ——–TOM PETERS / Thriving On Chaos
Stay curious and investigative,
Steve
PS- One of my favorite teachers in our school is the highly successful 3P coach Ankush Jain. Here he is in an interview you’ll want to watch (and save and share) on the practical value of “Loving Your Clients” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GWk1JXhH9E
With love and appreciation,
Ankush
Coach and Author of Sweet Sharing – Rediscovering the REAL You
P.S. Dr Mark Howard is, in my opinion, one of the best in the world when it comes to deep listening and rapport. If you’d like to see the power of listening in action, check out this coaching demonstration from Mark in our online course.
Contact Details:
Be the first to know when new content comes out, subscribe to Ankush’s email list for coaches: http://eepurl.com/b2YXID
To find more resources for coaches, please visit https://www.ankushjain.co.uk/coaches
Grow your own coaching practice and become a more impactful coach, check out Ankush’s online course with Dr Mark Howard