Lend a Ear

In 2008, the singer Dave Carroll’s singer guitar was damaged by United Airlines due to mishandling. His repeated requests to the airline to pay for the damages fell on deaf ears. After 9 months of hot relentless pursuits, he came up with a song to get even with the airline company. He began strumming, and in just a few hours wrote the first song, “United Breaks Guitars.” Before posting the video to YouTube, Carroll sent a message out to his 400 Facebook followers that said: “United broke my guitar, please watch this video.” And he went to bed.

“When I woke up, it had exploded: 300 hits. By noon there were 5,000, 25,000 by dinnertime. It was going viral at a time when I didn’t even know what a viral video was,” he said.

Within four days, “United Breaks Guitars” had hit a million views on YouTube. “United Breaks Guitars” became the number one music video in the world for a month. The attention helped Carroll land an endorsement deal with a guitar case company. He also got a call from Bob Taylor of guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars. As Carroll’s public image rose, United Airlines was feeling the pinch of the bad press. The Times of London attributed a 10% drop in United Airlines stock –– some $180 million –– to Carroll’s video. This shows the power of listening to your clients. Listening means respecting and valuing that person. Being heard is?one of the most basic needs of a person.

How to Listen?

Listening is a skill which can be learnt which is easy but many it tough to learn only because we impatient to react or respond or don’t care enough for the person with whom we interact.

1.????Be involved & engaged ?with the speaker by having eye contact, nodding

Signalling that he is listening with care.

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2.????Pay attention to the speaker to understand him and his view point. Don’t attend to your mobile or your staff or sign papers. Ensure that you concentrate while listening and preparing to reply him.

3.????Have patience and don’t be eager to answer; allow the speaker to finish his thoughts. Even if you want to ask a question, wait till the listener finishes and then ask questions.

4.????Summarize speaker’s point of to help him understand the speaker’s view point clearly.

Listening is a core skill, if mastered you can reap the following benefits.

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·???????You ?build trust

·???????You reduce misunderstandings

·???????You reduce the number of conflicts.

·???????You become more empathetic.

·???????You enhance your romantic relationship.

·???????You?improve ?your business relationships

·???????Your quality of ?friendships becomes better.

·???????Your productivity increases multifold.

·???????You become a desirable & an effective leader.

source...internet...various websites