Search Expertbase
Hire Gary
Virtually
Hybrid
In-Person
Listening Skills That Will Astound!
50 Claps
860 Words
5 min
Unsurprisingly, what you are about to read will have monumental consequences for ANYONE who uses a desktop telephone, mobile phone or headset as part of their working life or role.
So... Managing Directors, Receptionists, Telemarketers, Sales Professionals, Customer Service Agents, Tech Support, Accounts, in fact EVERYONE... Pay attention because this is going to astound you!
For years we’ve been told that an essential skill of anyone who has to persuade as part of their everyday life [ok, so that’s everyone] is that of listening. So, on that basis, is listening a given talent or can it be taught or improved?
The answer to this might shock some of you and explain why you’ve either been called an exceptional listener or someone who doesn’t listen at all... but as you’ll see it may not have been your fault!
‘RIGHT EAR ADVANTAGE’ [REA]
Research shows that verbal messages that are delivered or received by the recipient predominantly through their right ear are interpreted with much greater accuracy, are much more likely to acted upon and complied with.
The Background
Essentially, in the same way our eyes are connected to opposite hemispheres of the brain [Right Eye – Left Hemisphere / Left Eye – Right Hemisphere] it transpires that our ears are configured in exactly the same way although for differing reasons.
Now, without getting bogged down with all the neurological terminology, it is the left hemisphere of your brain which is largely responsible for the understanding and interpretation of verbal messages and it is for this reason that messages received through our right ears are far more likely to be understood and acted upon compared to those received by the left.
The Astonishing Research
Naturally, a lot of research studies have been carried out surrounding the phenomenon of ‘right ear advantage’ across a whole array of situations and potential uses from; medical applications, to therapy, to the ‘sciences of Sales and Persuasion.’
In 2009 researchers, Dr Luca Tommasi and Daniele Marzoli from the University of Chieti in central Italy, carried out an experiment in 3 of the cities nightclubs using over 500 unsuspecting participants.
Their goal was to see whether the ‘compliance’ to a simple request would be effected depending on which ear the request was given to the ‘unknowing’ participants. The request was a simply one...
‘Excuse me, do you have a cigarette I could have?’ [Now, obviously they only approached those who smoked!]
The results were amazing... Participants who were asked through their right ear complied significantly more than those from the left [Twice as compliant from the right hand side].
Now, my own studies and research into this phenomenon similarly back’s up this ‘RIGHT EAR ADVANTAGE’ [REA], with messages being relayed far more accurately if spoken into the right ear as opposed to those via the left. To be fully published shortly, I have proved that when a message or request is given to someone and then asking them to relay back to me what I’ve asked them to do or what I’ve just said, [There was a 3 min delay between giving the request and asking them to relay it back to me] then the accuracy and understanding and accuracy of my original message was hugely better coming from those who heard it through their right ears!
The MASSIVE implications for YOU!
Unsurprisingly, as with ‘Spatial Anchoring’ [How you feel about something depending on where you see it (left or right) – Imperative for marketers and sales professionals to know!], right ear advantage WILL make massive improvements to the way you receive a message and more importantly the compliance to your message if in a persuasion/sales environment to a prospect.
How YOU WIN INSTANTLY with Right Ear Advantage
* Any staff in a call centre or telemarketing team should ALWAYS wear their headsets on their right ear because they are far more likely to listen and understand what the prospect is asking and be more in-tune with what is being said.
* Customer Service staff should ALWAYS use there right ear when dealing with either complaints or queries from customers over the telephone because messages received in the left ear are far less likely to be understood, or acted on and therefore empathy and rapport will suffer. [Nothing worse for an unhappy customer]
* In any face to face situation you HAVE to manipulate the seating so that your presentations are delivered primarily by the prospects right ear and right eye [spatial anchoring]. KEYPOINT – Keep the customer on your LEFT at ALL TIMES where possible]
* Whether you are in Accounts, on Reception or are a General Manager... If you want someone to act upon what you are asking or saying then deliver those instructions to their right ears!
Finally...
As an experiment and to prove how this works, if you use your mobile held to your right ear then change it for a period of one day. What you will notice will utterly astonish you in how much more difficult it is to hear and understand the other person.
This Article is authored / contributed by ▸ Gary M. who travels from Fordingbridge, United Kingdom. Gary is available for Professional Training Work both Virtually and In-Person. ▸ Enquire Now.
Comments
What's your opinion?
1 more Articles by Gary
50