Active Listening Helps
Utility CSRs
Provide Only the Best in
Customer Service
By David Saxby
Having customer service representatives who
are good listeners is the cornerstone of any utility’s efforts to provide
outstanding service, but effective listening is an acquired skill. Few
people are natural-born listeners.
In their hustle and bustle, CSRs sometimes pretend they are listening when,
in fact, they miss a lot of what is being said by customers. Clearly, they
could build much stronger customer relationships by becoming better
listeners.
Utility CSRs must practice active listening. Active listening is hard work.
It demands a CSR’s complete commitment and involves using his or her eyes,
ears, body positioning, brain and heart to understand what the other person
is saying. But learning how to be an active listener is well worth the
effort.
The first step in active listening is to understand common barriers to
effective listening. Here are a few of them:
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Not paying attention.
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Losing interest in the conversation.
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Being preoccupied with other thoughts.
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Anticipating what the customer will say.
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Having preconceived attitudes about the
situation, person or conversation.
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Interrupting.
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Jumping to conclusions.
CSRs also should be aware of common
distractions that impede good listening. Those include the following:
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Noisy workplace.
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Feeling tired.
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Stress.
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Mental restlessness.
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Visual distractions.
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Customers using emotionally charged words.
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Customers speaking too fast, too slow or too
much.
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Customers with an accent.
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Customers using unfamiliar words or terms.
Once these barriers are understood, CSRs
should follow six steps that will lead to effective listening.
Step One: Actively listen to the customer’s request. This means that
you cannot be distracted by e-mail, glancing at your watch, typing, etc.
Stay focused on your customer 100 percent.
Step Two: Use a confirming statement. This lets your customer know
that you are both on the same page. I suggest using such statements as “Let
me make sure I understand your request,” “Let me confirm what you said” and
“My understanding is.”
Step Three: Practice Reflective Listening. Reflective listening
summarizes what a person has just said and asks for a response. For example,
if you have an upset customer and you can mirror his emotion back to him in
the form of questions, you will help relieve his frustration and negative
emotion and the conversation can then become more productive. Try something
like this: “If I’m hearing you right, you have tried budget billing and you
don’t think it is helping you enough. Is that correct?”
Step Four: Summarize key facts. Similar to using a confirming
statement, summarizing key facts demonstrates your understanding of the
situation. Use the following questioning statements: “Is that correct?” and
“Did I understand you correctly?” amd “Did I get that right?”
Step Five: Clarify misunderstandings. This step should be used only
when necessary, but it’s critical that it be employed under the appropriate
circumstances.
Step Six: Make sure customers don’t have to repeat themselves. When
people think they have not been heard, they tend to repeat the same thing
again and again or communicate with aggression or frustration. Listening to
customers and communicating with them ensures that their point is
recognized. Both listening and communicating must happen. This eliminates
the repetition, saves time and allows for productive outcomes.
There are several other things a CSR can do to practice active listening.
Those include the following:
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Maintain eye contact.
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Observe your body language.
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Observe the other person’s body language.
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Make comments that signal your
acknowledgement.
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Listen to how things are said as well as to
what is said.
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Pay attention to the words being used, voice
inflection and speaking rate.
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Facts are fine, but so are ideas, opinions
and feelings.
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Listen between the lines. What is the other
person’s intent as to what is actually being expressed?
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Listen to what isn’t said that you would
normally expect to be said.
CSRs are extremely busy people and that often
gets in the way of their ability to listen closely to customers. But they
simply must take the time to listen. There are no excuses. CSRs who become
good listeners will keep their utility’s customers happy.
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David Saxby is president of Measure-X, a Phoenix,
Ariz.-based measurement, training and recognition company that specializes in
customer service and sales skill training for utility companies. He can be
reached at 888-644-5499 or via e-mail at
david@measure-x.com. Visit the Measure-X Web site at
www.measure-x.com.
