Short answer: Probably. Read on for more details :-)

Last week I was speculating: “What if everyone knew how to listen?” and describing that special build-your-own-goldmine state, created by X-Ray Listening techniques, in which you can really connect easily with family, friends, colleagues and customers, and really understand what people are thinking and feeling.

“And then what happens?” asked my friendly neighbourhood marketing guru. “What will the benefit be for your customers? People don’t want a quarter-inch drill – they want a quarter-inch hole! If your service was turned into a pill, how would you know they’d taken it? What would you see that was different?”

“They’d have improved sales and be better lovers!” I joked.

But later I realised that it wasn’t really a joke. I have plenty of evidence that learning to listen well, to become fascinated by the other person and discover what’s important to them, can transform relationships of all kinds.

There’s my personal story: I was painfully shy before I began to learn these skills. Now I’m not only considered a bit of a whizz at networking, but also engaged to be married to a wonderful man.

I’m pleased I’ve taught him a bit of the X-Ray Listening stuff, too. He was wonderful already, of course, but misunderstandings are now very rare as we’re both happy to ask a clarifying “What kind of X?” whenever we don’t understand what’s been said. Wherever it’s been said :-)

And improved sales? Definitely. Ever top salesperson has their own way of getting under the customer’s skin, of finding out what they really want and why it’s important to them. They ask lots of questions, checking in with the customer.

X-Ray Listening works particularly well for “accidental” salespeople, who don’t necessarily have a hail-fellow-well-met sales style and still need to build commercial relationships – pre-sales consultants or account managers in IT companies, for example, or technical consultants.

So, would you be interested in improved sales and/or becoming a better lover? Let me know.