ACTIVE LISTENING

ACTIVE
LISTENING
LISTENING: The sole purpose of this skill is to help you understand what you need to do to better serve your customer’s needs. You must not only listen to what a customer says but how they say it. Emotions like sincerity, confusion, and frustration can normally be heard in a customer’s tone of voice. The type of language being used can also be a very good indicator of what a customer is experiencing.
STOP: The first rule of listening is to stop talking when a customer speaks. Do not talk over a customer. We do this for two reasons. The first reason is because this is rude. While on the phone, we are to be courteous and polite and talking over a customer is extremely rude. The second reason we stop is because most customers speak to give us information. This information is crucial to you and helps you to better serve your customers. By talking over the customer we are unable to hear what they are trying to say. So if the customer speaks we stop and listen. This enables us to hear what the customer needs us to hear.
Notes: To help yourself better understand your customer and to help yourself to keep better track of the conversation you need to keep notes. Notes are to be kept in a very specific way. First of all they must be brief. These notes must be brief to enable you to keep up with the speed that a normal human being speaks. But, most importantly the notes must be very specific. We normally need very specific information from our customers and normally they try to provide that specific information to help you do your job well. That is why we need the notes to reflect this very specific information. We are better able to serve our customers by keeping more specific notes.
The better we serve our customers, the better results we will have. Increased results is directly equivalent to better quality and better quality produces increased sales and higher marks of customer service.
Find Out: Once we have listened to our customers and have taken the notes on what was said, normally an agent needs to find out more details. Rarely will a customer give you all of the information you need in their first response.
Ask appropriate questions: To acquire the needed information we need to ask appropriate questions. The most effective questions are the one that are simple, direct, and specific. The better the question, the easier it is for the customer to provide us with the information we need to better serve them. Do not interrogate the customer. Pace your questions so it doesn’t make the customer feel like you are interrogating them. Do not ask questions that are not relevant to things you need to know.
Example 1: (non-interrogation)
I am speaking with ______________?
(pause)
I show the spelling of your last name as ___________
(pause)
And your first name is ________________?
(pause)
I have your address as __________________
(pause)
And that is in (City, State, Zip Code)
(pause)
Is that correct? Thank you.
Example 2: (find out)
Agent: “You will receive 60% off of airline tickets, 40% off of gift cards at selected restaurants, and up to 50% discounts of the standard nightly rates at participating hotels. Ma’am, if you could travel any where in the world, where would you like to go?”
The question not only keeps the conversation going, it also allows you to see what the customer is thinking and you can then start to gauge the customer’s level of acceptance.
Wait for a response: After a question has been asked we now need to wait for a response. Once again the customer will share information that needs to be added to the notes that are being taken.
Restate: Once you are satisfied that you have received all the necessary information you need to serve the customer’s needs, you must then restate to the customer what is your understanding. This step is crucial to avoid any misunderstandings. This step will also aid you in breaking down the language barrier. The best way to do this is to say, “If I understand you correctly, _____________________________. (Here is where you restate using your notes and what you heard what is your understanding of the conversation between you and the customer).
Clarification: The next step is to listen to the customer’s response. Most people are not very good communicators. It is your job as professional communicators to help lead the customer through the conversation, the customer will now tell you if your understanding is correct. If the answer “yes” then you are ready to fulfill the request. If the answer is “no” then you must continue to listen. Normally the customer will try and fill in the gaps of misunderstanding. Remember to take specific notes.
Ask additional questions: After listening to the customer it may be necessary to as additional questions. Just like before, you must ask very simple, direct, and specific questions in the attempt to find out any additional information you need or to help further understand the needs of your customer. Once again, restate your understanding to the customer seeking clarification. Follow these steps until you receive a positive confirmation to your restatement of facts and understanding.
Please note: The longer it takes you to understand what the customer needs will cause increased frustration from the point of view of your customer. You must do your best to understand what your customer needs as quickly as possible.
Pausing: A pause in conversation is a tool. After asking a question or giving a long oration or description, it is normal for a person to take a second and to think about their response. Give the customer enough time to think and then to reply to your request. After a long description of a product, it is normally useful to pause for a brief moment to allow the customer to absorb and understand what you have just said. It is also very useful to pause before you ask a question to send the signal to the customer that the thing you are about to say is separate from what you have been saying. The pause also emphasizes to the customer that the next thing is of importance and to please pay attention. Remember to put emphasis on the first word of the question after the pause, this will refocus the customer’s mind on your question and will help them understand your question better.
A pause, if too long, can also indicate that there is confusion in the call. If the pause starts to be uncomfortably long, you as professional must step in and take control of the call. Normally, if a question is asked and there is no answer, the pause indicates the customer either did not hear the question or did not understand what you said. The best way to handle this situation is to repeat the last thing you said to the customer and then to wait for a response. The customer’s response will dictate what you need to do next. Remember that one of the worst things you can do is to rush a customer. Please use the pause in a conversation to give the customer time to space to think.
Maintaining an equal relationship: Never talk down to a customer. You must retain an equal relationship with your customer. Stay in control of your call and keep your professionalism by not allowing the customer to talk down to you.