Are you looking for a way to drive revenue growth and listen to understand? Oscar Trimboli, the author of the book “How to Listen” and host of the Apple Award-winning podcast “Deep Listening,” is on a mission to create 100 million deep listeners and has consulted with many top companies.
In this post, I’ll show you how Oscar Trimboli used a system of listening to increase his budget revenue line by 32%, how he understands the significance of the numbers 125, 400, and 900, and how he uses listening to build strong relationships with customers and create a positive culture.
I’ll also detail how Oscar Trimboli did it and how you can do the same in your business. So tune in to learn how to listen to understand and drive revenue growth.
About Oscar Trimboli
Today on the Predictable B2B Success Podcast, we’re joined by Oscar Trimboli, an author, keynote speaker, and host of the Apple Award-winning podcast Deep Listening. Oscar is on a mission to create 100 million deep listeners and goes beyond the basics of listening to understand how it can positively impact homes, workplaces, and cultures worldwide.
Oscar has interviewed over 100 of the most diverse workplace listeners, from air traffic controllers to spies, and consulted with some of the biggest names in the technology and marketing industry. Oscar believes in the power of listening and will be here to explain the science behind it and how it can have a tangible impact on the bottom line. Tune in to hear Oscar explain the importance of the numbers we shared earlier – 125, 400, and 900.
Why is it important to listen to understand and drive revenue growth?
Listening is crucial for business professionals, as it can directly influence revenue growth. In addition, listening to understand rather than respond can help foster engaging conversations with customers and other stakeholders, allowing organizations to understand their needs better and wants.
This understanding can help businesses to identify potential opportunities for growth better, as well as create better strategies for achieving their goals. Furthermore, listening can help businesses to build stronger relationships with stakeholders and customers, as they demonstrate that they value their opinions and are willing to take their feedback into account. This can result in higher customer loyalty, ultimately driving increased revenue.
Listening helps identify areas of improvement within organizations. By listening to customers and other stakeholders, businesses can gain valuable insight into improving their products, services, and overall customer experience. This can result in improved customer satisfaction and, thus, higher revenue growth.
Listening can also help to solve customer complaints quickly, as businesses can identify and address the underlying issue more effectively. Ultimately, listening to understand and drive revenue growth can be an effective way for businesses to stay competitive and gain a competitive edge in their respective industries.
Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Listen to Yourself
- Listen to the Content
- Listen for Things
1. Listen to Yourself
Listening to yourself is the first step of the five-level listening system outlined by Oscar Trimboli. This step involves being aware of your listening battery, which is analogous to a cell phone. If you go into a conversation with a low battery, you won’t be able to listen to what the other person is saying.
Therefore, it’s important to take time to become present in the conversation and close any mental tabs that are distracting you. This could include managing notifications on your phone or taking a few deep breaths to center yourself.
Paying attention to your feelings and biases concerning the person you are talking to is essential. This will help you be more open to understanding different perspectives and ensure you listen with an open heart. Once you are aware of yourself and your biases, you can move on to the next level of listening, which includes listening to the content of the conversation.
The second step of the five-level listening system is to listen to what is being said. This involves paying attention to the words that are being said and understanding the meaning behind them. Again, avoiding making assumptions and asking questions is essential to better understand the speaker’s message. This will also help ensure you accurately capture the key points they are trying to communicate.
You must know your reactions and emotions when listening to the content. This will help you understand the message better and show the speaker that you are engaged in the conversation.
The third step of the five-level listening system is listening to the context. This involves being aware of the environment and the cultural and social context of the conversation. Again, it’s important to pay attention to the atmosphere and observe any nonverbal cues that may be present.
The fourth stage of listening is listening to what is unsaid. It is also important to practice empathy, which is putting yourself in the speaker’s shoes and understanding their point of view. Doing this lets, you better understand the speaker’s thoughts and feelings and how they relate to the content.
Another important element of listening to the content is awareness of nonverbal cues. This includes body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. Attention to these nonverbal cues can help the listener understand what the speaker may not be saying.
Additionally, being aware of the environment and any distractions or interruptions can help listeners better understand the content. Focusing on the speaker and giving them your full attention during the conversation is important, as this can help the listener understand the speaker’s message more clearly.
The fifth stage of listening is to derive meaning from all that you hear, observe, and what is unsaid.
On a side note, it can help to take notes when understanding the content. Taking notes helps the listener to remember the key points of the conversation and also helps to keep the listener engaged. It is also helpful to write down any questions during the conversation so they can be addressed later. Taking notes helps the listener reflect on the conversation later and gain additional insight into the content. Having said that, taking notes can be a distraction for the person speaking.
Additionally, it’s important to take note of any power dynamics that may be at play, such as gender or age. Awareness of these dynamics can help you better understand the speaker’s perspective and ensure everyone is heard equitably. With these three steps, you will be well on your way to becoming an effective listener.
2. Listen to the content
To effectively listen to the content, it is important to understand the speaker’s average speaking speed (125 words per minute) and the listener’s average listening speed (400 words per minute). It is also essential to understand that the speaker is thinking at an average of 900 words per minute.
This means that the speaker is only saying 14% of what they are thinking, so it’s important to listen for what is not being said as much as what is being said. To do this, it is important to practice active listening, which involves staying present and engaged in the conversation and asking questions that help to draw out the speaker’s thoughts and feelings.
3. Listen for Things
To effectively listen for things, it is important to understand the three numbers associated with listening – 125, 409, and 900. 125 is the average speaking speed, 400 is the average listening speed, and 900 is the average thinking speed of the speaker. It is important to understand these numbers to have an advantage in any situation.
It is important to listen for what is not said and what is said. This is because the speaker can typically only express 14% of their thoughts, and the listener must fill in the gap. Listening is an art and a science, and it is important to take action when listening to make a tangible impact on the bottom line.
It is also important to role model listening to create a culture of listening. Lastly, it is important to focus on the foundational and situational aspects of listening to move up the five levels of listening and be able to listen for what is unsaid and the meaning of what is said.
One way to practice effective listening is to practice active listening. Active listening involves:
- Engaging with the speaker,
- Making eye contact,
- And using non-verbal cues such as nodding and facial expressions.
Additionally, active listening requires being present in the moment and engaging with the speaker. By doing this, the listener can focus on what is being said and what is not being said. It is also important to practice reflective listening. This involves repeating or paraphrasing the speaker’s words back to them to ensure that the speaker feels heard. This is an effective way to demonstrate understanding and empathy.
The speaker has the opportunity with this level of listening to clarify any points that may have been misunderstood. Practicing active and reflective listening makes it possible to become an effective and empathetic listener.
Listening is a crucial skill for business professionals and can help to increase revenue growth. Oscar Trimboli’s Five Levels of Listening provides a framework to develop this essential skill and use it to create better customer relationships and build a positive culture.
By following these five steps, you can effectively listen to understand and drive revenue growth in your business. So take the time to invest in your listening skills and watch as you gain an unfair advantage and improve your bottom line.
I’d love to hear how you apply the Five Levels of Listening to get improved listening. So leave me a comment on how it went for you, or drop me any questions you want me to answer!
Some topics we discussed include:
- The listening problem that occurs quite frequently in a B2B sales context
- Uncovering the power of listening to increase quality, reduce meeting length, and sustain customer relationships
- Exploring the five listening levels and how to adjust them to fit the situation and relationships
- The four villains of listening
- The three numbers that you need to know to transform how you listen
- Discovering how to process the emotions of both yourself and others in workplace conversations
- How to notice how people speak and not just what they say
- How to listen to what is unsaid
- And much, much more …
Listen to the episode
Related links and resources
- Check out Oscar’s site
- Learn from Ross Youngs – How an Innovative Culture And Direct Mail Marketing Strategies Easily Drive Growth
- Learn more from Colin Shaw – Experiences For Business: How to Delight Businesses And Drive Growth
- Check out – How to Create Content for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey
- Learn from Brynne Tillman – Social Selling on LinkedIn: How to Simply Drive Growth Fast
- Learn more from Matthew Hunt- 5 Demand Generation Marketing Strategies to Drive Pipeline Growth
- Learn from Dr. Stephen Timme – Insight Selling: How to Increase Pipeline With Powerful Data
Connect with Oscar
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