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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Listen Up! How to show a customer you are listening.




     In this short video, body language expert Mark Bowden tells us how to send a clear signal with body language. This proves that you are listening when someone else is talking. One must first understand that in order to actually listen to someone, versus just hearing, you must receive AND comprehend the verbal and nonverbal message another person is sending. In this video, Mr. Bowden covers the nonverbal part. He breaks it down into four nonverbal cues:

     First and foremost is eye contact.  If you are interaticing with someone, you must make eye contact to make them feel like you are paying attention to them.
   
     Second, give the person a polite and genuine smile.  In order to create a genuine looking smile, also called a Duchenne smile, you need wrinkles at the side of your eyes.  Smiling is always a good way to greet someone and help them to feel at ease while interacting with you.  In a listening scenario, smiling helps create a pleasant air of openness.

     Third, tilt your head to the side a little bit.  This shows the other person your ear and helps to further reinforce your nonverbal message.

     Finally, nod your head a little bit while the other person is talking.  That gives them a cue that you are actively receiving their information.  I certainly would not want to talk to a stone-faced person.

     These tips for sending a strong nonverbal message of genuine listening have important implications in costomer service.  Ultimatlly, a customer service representative is there to listen to the customer’s needs and deliver or act on those needs. All the while, they are working to create a pleasant experience for the customer. A pleasant experience isn't possible without showing that you are paying attention! People won’t come back if they felt ignored and unimportant.

-Sam Freeze

Please comment below!

Effective Listening. 2012. Synergy Assist. synergyassist.com. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.


Presentation Skills for Leadership and Sales with Body Language Expert Mark Bowden. Dir. Mark Bowden. YouTube. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.

2 comments:

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  2. Great post Sam. I agree that it is crucial for the customer to know they are being heard. This also makes an associate's life easier because listening to the customer keeps unfortunate errors from being made. Smiling is especially important. It always seems to put my customers at ease when I give them a genuine smile.

    - Katie

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