Seek To Understand Before Seeking To Be Understood

By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

The fifth habit identified by Steven R. Covey in his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, is seek to understand, then to be understood.  

Successful, experienced sales professionals identify empathy as one of the most important skills for success. Yet, how often do we arm salespeople with a handful of questions intended to set up a scripted pitch?

We spend a great deal of our formal education honing communication skills by learning to read, write and speak effectively. But what about listening? Not just listening to look for an opportunity to get our point across but listening to really understand the other person.

And effective listening is the key to empathy!

Listening and asking questions intended to understand helps establish trust and build rapport with others. It will also enable you to influence them if you are in sales.

Also, if you are in a leadership role, or growing into one, empathy can be the key to encouraging others to overcome challenges.

But first, you must be an effective listener. Have you ever worked on becoming a better listener? Here is a great article by Harvard Business Review contributor Amy Gallo that might serve as an appetizer for a main course in developing better listening skills, What is Active Listening?

Seek to understand, then to be understood!