she switched her questioning around. Shed first ask them what
happened. Theyd tell her all about it. Shed listen sympathetically. Then, she
said, they were only too happy to give me the infomation I needed.
Good bosses understand this human need to talk. Robert, a colleague of
mine who owns a small manufacturing firm, says whenever one of his
employees complains about a problem, he never holds the gripers feet to the
fire for facts first. He hears the employee out completely. He lets him carry
on about the cantakerous customer, the uncooperative coworker. Then, after
hes gotten it off his chest, Robert says, I get the facts a lot more clearly.
When You Have Important Information to Impart
Any kid working in a garage knows you cant pump more gas into a full
tank. Too much topping it off, and it splashes onto the cement. Likewise,
your listeners brain is always full of his or her own thoughts, worries, and
enthusiasms. If you pump your ideas into your listeners brain, which is full
of her own notions, youll get a polluted mixture, then a spill. If you want
your supersupreme ideas to flow into her tank unpolluted, drain her tank
completely first.
Technique #86
Empty Their Tanks
If you need information, let people have their entire say first. Wait
patiently until their needle is on empty and the last drop drips out and
splashes on the cement. Its the only way to be sure their tank is empty
enough of their own inner noise to start receiving your ideas.
How to Prepare Them to Listen to You 321
Whenever you are discussing emotionally charged matters, let the
speaker finish completely before you jump in. Count to ten if you must. It
will seem like an eternity, but letting the flustered felow finish is the only
way hell hear you when its your turn.
Im Going to Make You Miserable Before You Can Enjoy Being My
Customer
Companies that run mail-order operations could take a hint from this
technique. One reason I enjoy ordering from L.L. Bean, a mail-order
clothing and sports-equipment outfit, is they let me ask questions about the
wearable or widget I want first. They let me ramble on with my questions
about the quality, the available coors, how it looks, how it feels, how it
smells, and how it works. Then, when Im all whacked up about receiving
ooja
(Ooja)
#1