Develop your listening skills to understand what people are really saying.
Listening effectively is most definitely a skill. Whether it’s listening to your customers, colleagues or even your family at home, it forms the basis of good communication. The ability to listen properly helps to build bonds, trust and relationships and should be in theory something that comes naturally to everyone.
But what barriers exist in the quest to be a good listener, and how can you go about overcoming them?
- Prioritise – Acknowledge the fact that listening to people is an important part of your job, and a skill to be developed. Whether you’re listening to a potential customer or giving time to an employee who has a suggestion you should recognise that they are likely to have something of value to say.
- Know your limits – If you know you have an issue with developing this skill try and identify what it is that’s holding you back. It might be that you’re naturally a good listener or that as an assertive personality you’re more used to doing most of the talking. Identifying from which side you come from will help you to focus when you need to step back.
- Eliminate distractions – If your attention is obviously elsewhere during a conversation, the other person will soon get the message. You want someone to feel that what they have to say is important so, if the person is in front of you, clearing your work station, closing down your computer and muting the phone to guarantee attention will show that you are committed and interested. It will also help to save precious time by ensuring that you get the full picture first time around. If you’re on the phone, regular but short responses will give the idea that you are attentive when the other person is in full flow.
- Not all communication comes through words – Again, when the person is in front of you, eliminating distractions means that you can focus on the parts of the conversation imparted through other channels. You can’t underestimate what someone’s eyes or body language will tell you throughout interaction and how much this will tell you about an individual’s feeling towards the subject matter.
- Control your reactions – Body language communication works both ways so try to make sure that your reactions are measured, avoiding any temptation to react or contradict too hastily.
- Validate and verify – Asking questions that verify the information you’ve received can serve to prove that you have indeed been listening to the conversation. You can acknowledge and even express gratitude for the information, regardless of how you feel about it. Always close the talk with a summary of points heard and next steps.
To summarise the dos and don’ts –
Do:
- take an honest look at both your good and bad habits
- clear out all distractions that might draw your attention away from the person you’re communicating with
- ask clarifying questions and repeat back what you heard
Don’t
- assume you know all of the answers — allow for the possibility that others have valuable information to share
- overlook nonverbal cues — they often reveal what a person is really thinking
- react emotionally to what is being said — acknowledge the information even if you don’t agree
Effective listening is certainly a skill that can be developed and improved. For those for whom most communication takes place over the phone, listening is equally important. You might be striving to make sure you’re able to get your message across in order to make a sale or agree a deal but it will still be apparent if you end up simply talking at someone rather than to them.
Telephone skills should be monitored and reviewed regularly in order to keep people fresh and engaged. Lanonyx call recording software makes it easy to keep a check on how teams are performing and allows for any changes to be made to make communications more effective. Sometimes it can be the slightest of improvements that makes all the difference and call recording helps to make this possible.
If you’d like to find out more about call recording or call logging software please don’t hesitate to give us a call; we’d be happy to tell you everything we know – which happens to be rather a lot! Drop us a line on 0333 0022 440, or contact us. We’re here ready to help…