👋 Hey there!
🚅 This is issue #46 of the Double E Bullet where I share two action-packed bullets to help you go from full-time founder to part-time CEO.
As business owners and entrepreneurs, we are taught to sell ourselves and with that comes more talking. After all, how will the other end of the line know that we are selling our products or services if we don’t talk about it… right?
Well, because this month’s series of bullets focuses mainly on negotiations, we will talk more about another important skill that will help you win just that: active listening.
In this case, getting fewer words out of our mouths and instead using our ears more, will help in increasing the chances of closing deals and contracts.
BULLET ONE
👂 Developing an Active Listening Mindset
Active listening involves paying close attention to what the other party is saying, which is crucial if you want to come up with a mutually beneficial agreement. It is not just limited to keeping your mouth shut and nodding at the right times, it means that you actually need to hear what they are saying and we go deeper into that below:
1. Make your client feel understood
Pay close attention to what their pain points are and show a genuine desire to understand and connect with them.
Beyond the words, also pay attention to non-verbal cues such as their body language and tone of voice. What they are saying could be different from what they actually mean.
2. Ignore and eliminate all distractions
With so many things going on today, it can be hard to get rid of the distractions. Put down your phones or close your laptops.
If you are presenting in front of an audience, make sure you’ve memorized your slides and rehearsed your script and have someone else control your presentation for you.
Focus on the person (or group) that you are talking to and maintain good eye contact.
3. Be patient and stop rushing
It’s easy to just shush off the person you are talking to especially if you are no longer the topic. However, it’s really important to give your client ample time and space to vent out their problems and really get into the root cause of their issue. Also avoid interrupting, unless absolutely necessary, when the other party is talking.
4. Seek clarification
One good sign that you have practiced active listening and that you understood what the other person is saying is when you ask questions. Get deeper into the issue that they brought up and ask for further clarifications.
This will help you avoid any misunderstanding or miscommunication during the process of negotiation.
Active listening is an essential skill in negotiation and requires empathy, patience, and understanding from your end.
Learn to let go of your own biases and keep your attention from shifting towards yourself and your views. If you want to be trusted, you need to be able to hear based on the perspective of the speaker.
BULLET TWO
🤖 Practice Active Listening with Otter.ai
Even with AI being the driving force of so many digital campaigns recently, you probably wouldn’t think there’s a place for it to practice active listening. Well… there actually is.
​Enter: Otter.ai​
I’ve been using this impressive tool for several months now and it really is a time saver during meetings whether with your potential or current clients or with your team. It’s basically a tool that converts speech to text and you can easily integrate it to your current processes.
For example, I’ve used it to join me in my zoom meetings and, at the end of the meeting, it sends me a transcription of the meeting. It saves everyone a lot of time because then they can just go through the transcription to double-check and compare their notes. It’s like having a personal secretary take note of all your meeting minutes for you. It’s pretty fast too – it might arrive faster than your audio recording of the meeting!
One other thing I love about Otter.ai is that it shares summarized notes of the audio, which can be easily found on the right side of the screen. The AI tool also divides it into timestamps so you can click and listen to the audio excerpts instead of having to listen to the entire meeting.
You can even get it to help you transcribe your podcast or video recordings!
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🧨 DHIREN’S UPDATES 🧨
Need help with your negotiation skills? Here are two ways I can help you:​
→ Get unstuck in 90 minutes: Book me for a short, high-intensity session to solve a specific challenge (figuring out your best segment, redefining what you should offer, realigning who you are and what you do). Perfect for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small business owners.​
→ Work with me for a full day: I won’t drag you into a long-term consulting engagement. Work with me 1-to-1 for a full day and walk away with a positioning that elevates your business, a repeatable process, and the confidence to push your limit. Perfect for small business owners and startups/scale-ups.​
Interested? Reach out via Instagram or email. The next availability for my 1:1 coaching is on August 10th.
That’s all for this edition! What was your favorite bullet?