One of the greatest facets of mlm that many people simply dont pick up on is how to become an active listener. In order to become an active listener you need to be open to other peoples ideas and opinions. Too many people in the network marketing industry have preconceived thoughts of what others are going to say and how they are going to go about doing it. If you want to become a successful network marketer the best thing you can do is create an active listening approach. In a world that is surrounded by people too busy selling their own ideas to listen to others ideas, you have the opportunity to take a different more gratifying approach. The first thing you need to do is get rid of any reactive listening thoughts you may have. This means no talking to yourself inside your head about your own opinions and interpretations. There is no room for disagreeing or prejudging prior to hearing the persons insights. So how can you benefit from taking an active listening approach you may wonder? Building as many personal relationships is the key to becoming a successful network marketer. If you can gain trust from people and build relationships, they will be more inclined to buy your products or actively listen to your opinions as well. By opening your ears to comments and suggestions you are opening yourself. Being a network marketer only goes so far, but a friendship built through the internet can last forever. Being an active listener is a choice, not anything you are forced into. However, by being a reactive listener you suffer the consequences of having no real conversation, no learning, no sharing, and certainly no friendships. By interrupting a person in the middle of their sentence or judging before they are done you have turned into a mind-reader. There is no room for mind-reading in the world of network marketing. Listening is like a flight of stairs in a sense. You begin at the bottom gaining someones trust and respect. The ongoing relationship will eventually turn into a friendship over time. Once you have a friendship, you have the opportunity to turn that into a partnership. From there the sky is the limit as you can turn many of these friendships into an organization, and all of this is started by listening. While this may seem like a basic concept of life, you would be surprised how many people use reactive listening. If you can throw away your opinions and judgments and take an active listening approach, you will broaden your horizon for the opportunity to succeed in network marketing. |