Four Simple Strategies To Enhance Your Listening Skills
Four Simple Strategies To Enhance Your
Listening Skills
“YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME!!!”
How many times do you hear your customers say:
What did I say or do to alienate this customer?
What verbal cues did I miss?
Did I put my agenda above his or her needs?
Have I made other customers feel the same way?
Now ask yourself:
They crave someone who understands them; sympathizes with their difficulties and values their input.
Most of all, they expect a RESOLUTION.
Customers are no different than ourselves:
The following slides provide FOUR simple strategies to avoid distractions, and thus enhance your listening skills.
1. KNOW YOURSELF.
• What behaviors strike a nerve with you?
• Do you grow testy when customers are not to the point?
• Do your emotions boil when customers project their frustrations onto you?
• Are certain pressures---attaining quota (sales); reducing talk time (customer service), meeting deadlines (administrative)---taking precedence over building rapport and solving problems?
By identifying your weaknesses, you can consciously curb attitudes and actions that might alienate customers.
2. FOCUS ON THE OTHER PERSON.
• Let it all go for the moment.• Tune out all the noise and motion
around you. • Let the other party talk, accuse or even
threaten, and suppress your natural desire to talk back!
• Let them wear themselves out. • Keep an open mind; manage your
emotions and don’t jump to conclusions. • Take your self-interest out of the
equation. • Always focus on the big picture:
establishing goodwill and trust, fixing the problem and salvaging relationships.
3. BE THE PERSON THEY WANT YOU TO BE.
• Customers want people who are consistent and show genuine concern.
• Always come across as authentic, attentive, accepting and comforting.
• Speak as a measured, soothing pace, in a tone tailored to the other party’s personality.
• Most important of all, empathize with the other person – validate their emotions, even certain opinions.
Note: It is important that sometimes you share a similar life experience when warranted. Just be careful: some people will claim you are not listening when they really mean that you’re not adopting to their viewpoint.
4. UNDERSTAND AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
• Listen for clues to what’s truly troubling your customers.
• Paraphrase their words to confirm your understanding.
• Ask them to repeat themselves to ensure you didn’t miss anything.
• Ask for clarifications, to make them think everything through.
• Once you know what they want out of the conversation, it is time for you to DELIVER.
• Find the best possible solution to the customer’s problem.
• And-when it is done, say “Thank you.”
Remember, it is truly a compliment when customers give you an opportunity to LISTEN and save the relationship.
Source: http://www.managesmarter.com/msg/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003844107
The points discussed in this presentation are based on the article “The Personal Touch: Four Ways to Enhance Your Listening Skills” by Jeff Schmidt, a consultant from Dubuque, IA.
Greg Consulta