Listening Skills

TYPES OF LISTENING

LISTENING

ACTIVE LISTENING PASSIVE LISTENING

Listening is a critical skill...
 For any professional - especially for
those who work on the phone.

 Most people are passive listeners, only

paying partial attention and listening
primarily for the key points.
Importance of Listening

 When you create rapport with a customer,

it is inevitable that you will learn
something about that customer in the
process.

 Good listening skills allow you to identify

a customer’s needs, underlying mood,
personality and communication style.
Most people aren’t good listeners…

 Researchsuggests there is usually

a 40–60% loss of meaning
between speakers and listeners.

 And for every 1 hour of

information a person hears,
they remember just a few
minutes.
Becoming a good listener requires
attention and effort. It is a skill
that anyone can improve.
What is Active Listening?

Active listening is listening

attentively with the need to
respond, either verbally or with body
language.

Examples of this are…

 Tele-communicative
 Face-to-face
Verbal Comprehension Cues

VCCs tell the listener that you’re paying

attention. Remember, they can’t see
you nod/shake your head on the phone!

OK……
Right……
Uh huh……..
Oh……..
I see…….
Interesting……
Characteristic Differences Between…

PASSIVE Listeners ACTIVE Listeners

 Believe that “hearing” is  Know that “listening” is

“listening” much more than just
“hearing”
 May be easily distracted  Focus on the speaker
 Make sure that the
 Do not always speaker knows they are
acknowledge the listening
speaker  Constantly practice to
 Do not try to improve improve their active
their listening habits listening habits
ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS

LISTENING WITH AWARENESS LISTENING WITH EMPATHY

LISTENING WITH OPENESS

Listening With Empathy

 Listening with empathy means saying to yourself,

"This is hard to hear, but it's another human
expressing frustration."

 Your ability to listen naturally goes down when

someone is angry, criticizes or wallows in self-pity.
If you find listening with
empathy difficult ask these
questions:

 1. What underlying need is the

customer expressing?

 2. What emotions is the customer

experiencing?

 3. What is the customer asking for?

Listening With Openness
 Themost important rule for listening
with openness is to hear the whole
statement before judging.

 Premature evaluations don't make

sense because you don't have all the
information.
Judgments may feel gratifying but
here's how you pay for them:

1. If your opinions have been proven false, you

are the last to know.
2. You don't grow intellectually because you
only listen to viewpoints you already hold.
3. You dismiss otherwise worthwhile people
because you disagree with their ideas.
4. You turn people off because you spar and
don't listen.
5. You miss important information.
Listening With
Awareness
There are two ways of listening with awareness:

 The first way is to compare what's being said to your own

knowledge of history and people. Do this without judgment.
Simply make a note of how it fits with known facts.

 The second way is to hear and observe congruence. Does the

person's tone of voice and word emphasis fit with the content of
his or her communication. If voice and words don't fit, your job
as a listener is to clarify and give feedback about the
discrepancy. If you ignore it, you're settling for an incomplete or
confusing message.
Listening Beyond the
Words
Listening for Context
 Customers are not always clear
about their problems or needs. It
is important to gather meaning
from context, not just from words.
Customer Assumption
 When a customer assumes something,
he believes that the agent understands
the same thing. Because of this, the
customer may not communicate clearly.

For example, “It’s about time you answered! I’ve

been holding on the line for nearly an hour. I need
you to replace my keyboard because my mother
cleaned it for me and spilled something on it. Now it
doesn’t work!”
 In the previous example, the customer is
assuming that the keyboard is covered
under the warranty. If the agent doesn’t
acknowledge and clarify this to the
customer, this misunderstanding can
cause contention later in the call.
Deception

 Some customers are less than

completely honest. Customers may
make misleading statements in an
effort to get an outdated
promotion, faster call resolution,
service not covered under their
warranty or a concession.
Example of Cx Deception…
 Customer – “I plugged in my USB
mouse and noticed that my USB
port is missing - like it snapped off!”
 Agent – “What were you doing when
it snapped off?”
 Customer – “Nothing, it just
snapped off by itself.”
Level of Experience
 Are they technical or a novice? An agent’s
communication style should mirror the
customer’s expertise.

Novice Customer: “My hard drive won’t start.”

 Agent: “Ok, can you tell me exactly what it is doing?”
 Customer: “It just won’t start when I push the button on the
hard drive. It doesn’t do anything.”
 Agent: “By hard drive, are you referring to the big dark gray
box that sits on the floor with the power button on the front?”
 Customer: “Yes, that’s right. Can you help?”
 Customers may have unstated or
unclear needs that might become
barriers if not recognized and
addressed.
 BARRIERS TO LISTENING
• Environmental
The sounds around us become a barrier when they
distract our attention thus affecting our ability to listen
actively
• Emotional/ Psychological
Occurs when we are overcome by complexes/ emotions
where they prevent us from listening actively
• Physical
Appears due to lack of proper sleep/nutrition - again
preventing us from actively listening
Active listening is
consciously focusing on
what is being said and
verbally confirming an
understanding.
Components of active listening

 Acknowledge
 Verify
 Paraphrase
 Clarify
 Summarize
Commandments of Good Listening

 Concentrate
 Acknowledge
 Check understanding
 Avoid distractions
 Avoid interruptions
 Never assume
 Take notes
 Understand the barriers of listening