Lori Jo Vest, co-author of "Who's Your Gladys?"
These days, it seems that all of us are severely overstimulated. We get up in the morning, check our email, read the paper, go to the office, do the job of two or three or even four people, manage a constant stream of email, take calls from customers and coworkers who need something from us, check our social media accounts, listen to news or talk radio on the way home from work, take on homework (our own or our child’s), then read a bit or watch TV before bed…the barrage of input goes on and on and on. It seems like we’ve all committed to multi-tasking as a lifestyle.
In customer service, this half-attention that is seeping into the work life of even the most diligent worker can present a serious problem. Customers are more sensitive than ever and if you’re multi-tasking, you’re not giving them your full attention. You risk making mistakes, coming across as uncaring and not getting all the information you need to serve them well.
And even if you’re trying hard to listen, apparently you can only retain a certain amount of what you hear. I recently read an article by Mark Smock on elearn-university.org that provided a great statistic on listening:
“A comprehensive study completed at the University of Minnesota examined the listening ability of several thousand students and hundreds of business professionals. One of the primary conclusions of this study was that immediately after the average person had listened to someone talk, they remembered only about half of what was actually said no matter how intensely they attempted to absorb all the information communicated.”
Smock’s article encourages sales managers to make listening skills a regular part of their staff training. He also encourages sales people to repeat what a customer says to ensure they’re hearing them correctly, to monitor body language to enhance their understanding of the customer’s message and to listen for facts instead of rapidly forming opinions (aka judgements) of what’s being said. I would add the requirement of pen and paper. If you take notes, you’ll have easy access to what you may have forgotten.
Listening takes effort, particularly if you have a to-do list that’s growing by the minute. However, if your customer is telling you what they want, grab and pen and paper and pay attention! They’ll feel better and you’ll be more effective at serving them.
What do you think? Do you really listen when your customers talk? What could you do to sharpen your listening skills?
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