As a provider of products and services, your job is to discover what your customers need and find ways to meet those needs. If you don’t listen to them, how will you know what they need?
You may think listening is simply hearing the words coming out of your customer’s mouth. But it’s much more. Effective listening is a skill that takes concentration, patience and time to learn. People who are skilled at listening can quickly determine customers’ needs and wants, enabling them to match needs and desires to the best product or service.
When talking with customers, it is easy to become so focused on what you want to say about your products and services that you forget to truly listen to them. But not listening, and worse, not understanding what is being said, is a certain way to ruin a customer’s experience with you.
The following are some good ways to improve your listening skills. None of them are rocket science. However, applying them effectively in conversations with customers will take practice and discipline.
Stop multitasking. Stop everything else and give all of your attention to that conversation. Choose a place to sit where you won’t have things or other people distracting you. Close your door, turn off your computer screen, put away other electronic devices and do anything else you can to minimize other distractions.
Come prepared to listen. Before making a call, write down what you want to accomplish and any key questions you want to ask. When this is written ahead of time, it reduces the urge to be thinking about it during the call. Bring your favorite note-taking tools with you – whether it is an old fashioned pen and paper or a computer app. Taking notes during the conversation will keep you focused on what is being said.
Start by asking questions. Include many open-ended questions that begin with “why” or “how”, not just ones with yes or no answers. Remember that you are trying to discover what they really need or want, not convince them to buy a specific product or service. To do this, you need to understand their business problems and goals.
Don’t think ahead while a customer speaks. Give the customer your full attention, focusing on what is being said, not on how you are going to respond. When you start thinking about what you want to say, it distracts you from fully listening and could cause you to miss some of the important details.
Do not interrupt. Interrupting is not just rude, it cuts off the flow of information. If you think of something you want to ask about or comment on, make a note and come back to it later.
Reflect back what you hear. This simply means to paraphrase what you heard the customer say. For example, you might say, “It sounds like excess inventory has been a problem for you.” Doing this serves a dual purpose. First, it makes sure that you understand what your customer said and gives them a chance to clarify any misunderstandings.
Second, it makes them feel understood. This helps build trust and rapport, which are essential in a successful long-term customer/vendor relationship; it makes them feel comfortable sharing their challenges and allowing you to try different solutions.
Do not be afraid of silence. When a customer finishes talking, don’t immediately jump to fill the silence. Simply pausing for a few seconds gives you both time to think about what was just said and could often result in them sharing additional information.
