Tips on Improving Listening Skills for Better Customer Support

Customer Service is an elaborate and challenging job. Understanding your customers and having good communication are the most essential skills that a good customer service representative should have. Active listening is one of the most essential skills a CSR must have. Those who are unable to listen carefully and understand what is being said and what is not, will never be able to communicate efficiently. For customer support teams, it is all the more important to have good listening skills, since they have to deal with queries and issues and have to be proactive in serving customers. Here are a few tips to help enhance listening skills of your support team in order to ensure that they deliver a delightful customer experience!

Be Fully in the Moment and Keep an Open Mind

Those who easily get distracted and are inattentive while having a conversation can never be good at listening; forgetting important details is easy when your attention is diverted. It is important to keep in mind that listening without focus is not really listening, it is bound to impact your communication skills and is likely to result in bad customer service. In order to make sure that clients see you as an understanding individual who can relate to their situations, hear them out and understand their position. Listening carefully, paying attention and keeping an open mind is essential. Jumping to conclusions often leads to misinterpretation of what is being said and ends in less facts being displayed and understood, so take time to make sure you listen to whatever is being said in an unbiased manner and make an informed decision when the conversation ends.

Probe for Missing Information

Many CSRs lack the ability of gaining information from a client who isn’t particularly communicative. Ask open ended and closed ended questions to dig deeper into the issue and acquire better knowledge. Pay attention and listen carefully to whatever is being said and exercise your expertise on the missing patches of information and loopholes that will prevent you from relating completely to the subject. It is also important to understand the difference between probing and interrogating. Putting them at ease, showing that you relate to their situation, and gently asking questions will help.

Rephrase the Questions for Better Understanding

When you have carefully heard and understood the subject of the matter, taking a different approach will help acquire unbiased and better insight into the issue. For example, when a customer explains how he/she had an unpleasant experience with a customer service representative who was not willing to make an exception for him, ask what was missing and how the CSR would have made this experience an amazing one. This will give you a better understanding of your client’s expectations and the true nature of the matter at hand along with the gravity of the situation.

Utilize Training Games and Exercises

While training your customer service staff on important skills such as problem solving and listening is necessary, the way you do it is equally important. Training games have proved to be an efficient way to enhance listening skills among team members along with a fun exercise that captivates their attention. Promote training games within your customer support department that help in improving listening skills. For example, blindfolding game and others which are based on listening and focusing on what the other person is saying are bound to measure and improve your staff’s listening skills.