365QOD- Day1043

Listening ROI

“Action-oriented people—like most entrepreneurs—tend to talk more than they listen; I confess I used to be one of them.  However, I’ve found out that speaking burns more energy than listening, and the ROI is generally lower.”- Esteban Reyes, Best Advice I ever Got Inc. Magazine article

For non-financial folks the definition for ROI is return on investment.  Most of us would never connect listening with return on investment.  I know that I do.

As Esteban warns, most of us “entrepreneurial” types tend to talk more than we listen.  In my world that is OK but you have to be wise enough to know when to stop.  That is the key.

I once negotiated with a company to do some training.  During the negotiations  the contact asked me what I wanted for a rate.  Being new to the business I had a figure in mind.  BUT as Esteban cautions, I kept quiet.  The contact made the first offer and it was four times higher than what I expected.  So I said, “Hum.”  I then asked to be paid for the development time.  She said OK. 

The moral of the story is that by keeping quiet I made four times what I expected and got paid to sit in my pajamas to develop the training.  Sweet!  The ROI was significant because I managed to sense that I would be better off keeping quiet and listening to the offer.

Today’s question is:

“How do you know when to listen more than you talk?”