Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s foremost motivational speakers, likes to say;
“God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason”
The reason is that you should listen twice as much as you talk. But, how many people actually do this?
I am routinely astounded when I am talking to somebody and it is blatantly obvious that they are not even close to listening to a word I say because they are so intensely focused on what they are going to say next. Have you ever had a conversation like this? Where the other person doesn’t appear to be listening to a word you are saying? I have been both a victim and a perpetrator of this crime (rest assured, this is an area of continuous self improvement for me - honest!)
Most people don’t understand how powerful words are. When you speak something, you are giving life to whatever you are speaking on or about. Your brain makes a connection when words crystallize into verbal noises deciphered by your eardrums.
If you are having a problem in your business (or your life for that matter), chances are it is because you aren’t listening and you are talking too much.
When I was running my first business, a vending machine company, I remember working on signing up a new account. I said and did all the right things to win this guy over. He had already said ‘yes’ but we hadn’t signed any paperwork yet. I figured it was in the bag. After a while, we stood around the front desk of his hotel talking. Naturally, I felt that I had to keep making him feel good about selecting my company for his vending machine needs. I continued to tell him what great service we had, how we would not let him down, how our product was always fresh and so on. Basically, having diarrhea of the mouth.
I noticed his mood start to change after a while. What was once a good rapport was quickly deteriorating. He started to not say a whole lot back when I would say something. “Did I offend this guy?” I thought to myself. Time seemed to drag on indefinitely and I finally got around to getting the contract out and asking him to review and sign it. He looked at it for a second and then said that he would have to review this and get back to me and that he would call me. I knew what this meant right away; no new account. He had effectively killed it. Why: because I could not SHUT UP, I talked myself right out of the sale.
Have you ever talked yourself out of a sale? Have you ever had something you wanted in your hands only to have your mouth ruin it? Maybe it wasn’t to place vending machines in a hotel, but it could be something else: going for a promotion, getting a date, getting a new customer? My guess is that this has happened to you, whether you realize it or not.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
-Proverbs 18:21
Adam,
Good article on flappin’ the lips too much.
By the way, I was reading an article about the vending machine business recently and found it interesting that you used to work for a company that sold them.
Have you ever yourself considered purchasing them and creating a route, being in the business and all and having an insider view?
It’s not like I don’t have enough going on, but there’s something that appealed to me about a vending machine route selling various stuff….and then having someone I trusted tend to the route.
Allegedly, it’s quite a recession proof business as well.
If you have any personal thoughts, feel free to share.
Thanks,
Dan
Dan,
Thanks for the comment. I did own the aforementioned vending machine business. It was a good business; had unique joys and challenges. I sold it to a strategic buyer after building for over two years.
If you are interested in learning more about the industry from more of an insiders standpoint, check out industry publications Automatic Merchandiser and Vending Times.
Best,
Adam