The Employee You (and Your Customers) Always Wanted To Talk To March 25, 2009 Ever overheard a less-than-superior phone conversation between an employee and one of your top customers?
By Christine Knott
Here are some tips to pass along to decrease the chances you'll overhear that scariness again.
1. Prevent yourself from being distracted by colleagues or external noises, and concentrate on what your caller is saying.
2. Listen to the emotion in your caller's voice. Does it match or endorse the words they are using?
3. Ask questions to gain more information on points you need to clarify.
4. You listen more effectively when you're not talking, so refrain from interrupting your caller. Let them finish what they are saying because interruptions may break their train of thought.
5. Avoid pre-empting your caller. Chances are you will be wrong and miss some of the content of their conversation.
6. Summarize and reflect back to check you heard the key facts and content of the caller's conversation correctly. This also lets the caller know you have understood them. Statements such as, "What I'm hearing is…" and "Sounds like you are saying…" are great ways to reflect back and summarize.
7. If you are having difficulty listening, make adjustments. You might say, "I'm sorry I missed that last point. Please repeat that for me."
8. Have a pen and paper on hand, and get into the habit of making short quick references to any questions you want to ask or points you wish to raise or comment on. When your caller has finished speaking, refer back to your notes and take action. If you are thinking of answers and responses while the caller is speaking, you are not listening.
9. Avoid stereotyping individuals by making assumptions about how you expect them to act and what you expect them to say. This will bias your listening.
10. Listen for key words, nouns, and verbs—they are the words that deliver the main content of a sentence.
Be aware of the following barriers to listening:
• We think we're right and the other person is wrong.
• We can't stand being told anything.
• We have a dire need to make a point and to speak.
• We feel we have to provide help right away.
• We are too busy thinking about what we are going to say next to listen.
• We are too busy thinking about our answers to listen.
• We are waiting for gaps or pauses to jump in with our response.
Christine Knott is managing director and training principal of specialist training company Beyond the Box. For more information, visit www.beyondthebox.co.uk.
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