How do you listen more effectively to your clients

Here is what you should know on how to listen to your clients..

1. Clear your mind of distractions before getting into a meeting with another person or other people. Take a minute to close your eyes and blank your mind immediately before going into a meeting or picking up the telephone. Top sales marketing trainers tell people handling incoming calls to set aside their paperwork on the first ring, close their eyes and take a deep deep breath on the second ring, then smile and answer on the third ring.
2. Determine in advance why the person you are going to be listening to is important to you and why what he or she is saying might be important to you. You have to sell yourself on the relevance in order to focus your attention.
3. Listen for information and insight that you can use to engineer  cooperation with the other person. Along, apparently irrelevant, favorite story told by the other person may inadvertently reveal one tiny clue to effectively persuading or motivating that person.
4. Be an active listener. Nod. Give feedback. Ask questions to encourage the person to continue and to demonstrate your interest. Use the technique of mirroring, to put the other person at ease. Mirroring is a Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) term. Many sales professionals, speakers, and negotiators study and employ NLP techniques. This is not to advise sacrificing personality and individuality.
5. In some business situations, it may be appropriate to jot down notes as you listen. Don't hesitate to do so, it helps illustrate your interest.