Kimberly A. Quintana, American Invsco Realty, Inc.I would like to spend some time this month on finding out whether we really listen to the people we encounter every day.  I can’t tell you how many times I will tell my family something one day, and the next day they are upset because I didn’t tell them the very thing that I did tell them.

This goes on at the office too.  You schedule a meeting and if you are lucky three quarters show up and the other quarter tells you they never knew about the meeting!  This gets very scary when we are out with our clients.  I am embarrassed to say how many times a client was asking me a question, and before they were even finished, I was waiting for them to take a breath so that I could jump in with my words of wisdom.  All too often I didn’t listen or even worse STOPPED LISTENING completely so when I answered it wasn’t even remotely connected to their question! 

Take a moment to take the following test: 

Q. What do we call a tree that has acorns?

A. Oak.

Q. What do we call a funny story?

A. Joke.

Q. What do we call the sound made by a frog?

A. Croak.

Q. What do we call the white of an egg?

A. ?

How many of you answered the last question with “yolk”?  I did.  The answer is “the white”.  Why did a major percentage of you answer this incorrectly?  The answer is because you “tuned out” when YOU felt you knew what the question was and without thinking answered wrong.  Many of you think this is a silly test.  How silly is this when the question comes from a client you want to do business with who now thinks you do not listen when he/she asks you a legitimate question?  THINK ABOUT IT!

Here is another test you can take on your own time.  With the Fall selling season just beginning, consciously try to REALLY listen to every person you talk to.  Yes…I mean your families too!