People Skills

Do you consider yourself a "people person"? Have you ever heard that phrase before? What is a people person? I know that to be a professional salesperson you must have some people skills but I am not sure that makes you a people person. 
Continuing on the theme of getting better let's focus on people skills.  People skills consist of the ability to build rapport with someone and to instill trust and confidence in you to take care of them. People skills include your instinct to really care about others.  A sincere compassion for another person's plight in life may not be considered a skill but it is definitely a trait that a professional salesperson should have and can improve upon.  The ability to communicate cares and concerns to others is certainly a skill. 
The improvement starts with awareness.  Are you aware of how comfortable and effective your are :

1) building rapport with someone
2) do you find yourself sincerely caring about someone when they are telling you there situation?
3) do you communicate with ease and effectively with others?

Building rapport is simply asking questions, listening intently and engaging the person.  Rapport is certainly a result of someone feeling that you care. I've found that the first step to improvement in this area is to intentionally be aware of listening when someone is talking to you.  Don't let your mind wonder.  Realize how important it is to that person that you "hear" what they have to say. Concentrate on asking questions related to their personal situation and that involve solutions rather than commiserating or gossiping about their problems. To improve in these areas you need to practice this with everyone not just your prospects.  Practice with your spouse and children, your friends and acquaintances.  How much would your relationships improve if you became a better listener and became more engaged? 
If you improve your people skills there is no doubt that your income will increase.  You will become better at approaching prospects and making presentations.  You will improve your question asking and ability to communicate different ways of thinking about things.  You will begin to ask for the business with ease.

Expect to Win!
--Jim