Are you good at listening? Did you know that a really great listener is as rare as a pink tiger or a super blue Paul Newman’s eyes?

No kidding! We all think we’re such good listeners, but are we really?

Years back I was an underwriter for a British insurance company in Prague. The first official sales training rubbed me the wrong way. One of those YES “special questions “during the sale's closing, to which the only possible answer is yes – until “the brain of the client is used to agreeing so much” that when you drop that killer closing question they automatically say yes, too. Because – you know, the word NO would feel weird at that point.

I knew that’s not going to work for me. I also hated cold calls (prospects) we were required to make. Calling random people, asking them if they want insurance wasn't my thing. So I hired a kind elderly lady who didn’t mind being hung up on, to call my prospects, and I threw...