Customers today have more ways than ever to voice their wants, needs, and opinions to the companies they patronize, as well as to their fellow patrons. Customer service has expanded from sales floors and call centers to the digital cloud and social media spaces. Voice of the Customer tools like satisfaction surveys and comment cards also provide an outlet for customers to express whether their need for service is being met. Across all of these platforms, no matter which one a customer decides to use, their essential need to feel listened to remains the same. If they don’t feel listened to, they’re only a click away from social media platforms and other public forums where they can make sure their voices are heard, and not always with the most flattering language. Improve listening skills doesn’t just happen automatically and this requires active effort and attention to which is what differentiates it from simply hearing. Fortunately, it’s a skill that can be trained, learned, practiced, and strengthened with basic tips in applying to all customer service channels and deserve heavy emphasis in your employee training process.
Make a conscious decision to improve listening skills because active listening is a choice, one that needs to happen at the beginning of every customer interaction. The minute you go on auto-pilot, communication suffers just to let go of your own personal agenda. Focus your attention by clearing away all distractions or preconceived notions and if you’re not fully present, you open yourself up to miss key parts of the customer’s message. Be curious, try to see the issue, topic, or question at hand from the other person’s point of view. Ask questions that give the customer the opportunity to thoroughly explain or describe what it is they’re trying to convey. Listen with your eyes and look at the customer when they’re speaking not at a computer screen, other people in the room or your watch. Pay attention to all the visual clues that accompany a customer’s words, like body language and facial expressions like in text-based communication email, italic and bold fonts and all caps serve a similar purpose. But can be more easily misconstrued, so use your judgement through improve listening skills.
Be patient because some people take longer to find the right words, to make a point, or to clarify an issue. Sometimes the impulse to help and finish their sentences or guess what they’re driving at can come across as a sign that you’re not actually listening to them, just trying to rush through the conversation. improve listening skills teaches with respect, listen to understand, not to judge. This means not just maintaining the right internal attitude, but paying attention to your own body language and nonverbal cues, watching out for things like eye-rolling, smirking or laughing at inappropriate moments, or fidgeting. Maintain calm and manage your own emotions/reactions. You cannot listen if you are defensive or angry, or if you’re preoccupied by something going on in your personal life. Remember the training of improve listening skills, this isn’t about you or your personal agenda, it’s about the customer. If you can’t put them first, you might be in the wrong job. Listen for the whole message and make sure you understand the entire message before you attempt to respond. If anything is unclear, try repeating the message back to the customer to make sure you understood them properly and are on the same page.
Conflict Resolution Steps 