Ten tips to improve listening skills on the telephone

Ten tips to improve listening skills on the telephone

Stay focused
Prevent yourself from being distracted by colleagues or external noises and concentrate on what your caller is saying.
Detect emotions
Listen to the emotion in your caller’s voice. Does it match or endorse the words they are using?
Ask questions
Ask questions to gain more information on points you need to clarify.Publish Post
Don’t interrupt
you listen more effectively when you’re not talking, so refrain from interrupting your caller. Let them finish what they are saying; interruptions may break their train of thought.
Don’t pre-empt
Avoid pre-empting what your caller is going to say, chances are you will be wrong and miss some of the content of their conversation.
Recap key facts
Summarize and reflect back to check you have heard the key facts and content of the caller’s conversation correctly. It also lets the caller know you have understood them. Statements such as “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back and summarize.
Pen and paper at the ready
Have a pen and paper to hand and get into the habit of making short quick references to any questions you want to ask or points you wish to raise or comment on. When your caller has finished speaking refers back to your notes and take action. If you are thinking of answers and responses while the caller is speaking, you are not listening.
Say it again
if you are having difficulty listening, makes the necessary adjustments. You might say, “I’m sorry I missed that last point. Please repeat that for me.”
Watch the stereotypes
Avoid stereotyping individuals by making assumptions about how you expect them to act and what you expect them to say. This will bias your listening.
Be aware of the barriers to listening
• we think we’re right and the other person is wrong
• we feel we have to provide help right away
• we prefer to talk rather than listen
• we are waiting for gaps or pauses to jump in with our response

The Language you use within a call center can be critical...

In a customer service environment the language that we use can have a strong effect on how the customer perceives the service.  In a sales environment this is even more critical. 

Here are some examples of Positive Words/Phrases:

 “Definitely”
“Surely”
“Absolutely”
“Certainly”
“Rest Assured Mr.……”
“I do understand the inconvenience you have faced……”
“I will be more than glad/ happy to assist you….”
“I completely understand the reason why / your situation….”
 “I will surely ensure that…”
“What I will do for you right away is……”
“I assure you I will try my best…..”
“What I can do for you right now is ….”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience that you have faced, what I can do for you is ….”


“I would suggest / I recommend…..”
“To avoid a similar inconvenience in future I request you to….”
“All you need to do is to just….”
“A simple way / method to change it will be to…..”
“As soon as you receive…”
 “You will surely be able to enjoy…..”
“You will ONLY be charged…..”
“We have a variety of …..’
“It’s a wonderful service where instead of _______, you can ____________ …..’
“This is the best plan/scheme for your requirements…..’
“For just $____. …you can…..”
“For Special customers like you…..”

Satisfied Vs. Loyal Customers

You may have a satisfied customer, but are they truly loyal to you.  If they see a better deal at a competitor, will they grab it?  Why?

For the most part, your customers are looking to be WOW'd.  When they call in or online chat with your agents, are they finding themselves excited about that experience?  They should be because that is how you get them coming back.

I am addicted to shoes.  I will look at shoes wherever I might go, online or in a store.  When Azppos.com came around, i thought I had died and gone to heaven until I saw their prices.  Luckily for me,  I was give a coupon code and decided to purchase some awesome looking shoes.  After I put in my code and gave my credit card number online, I found that the discount was not applied.  I contacted the online agent and they were so helpful in ensuring that I received my discount.  He even with the extra mile and called me the next afternoon to ensure I received my order and it went through properly.  Then, about a week later, I received a handwritten note from this agent thanking me for my business.

Why am I telling you this?  I'm telling you this because I was WOW'd and I've not kept quiet about it.  I am now a loyal customer/advocate of Zappos.com.  They know how to take care of their customers.

Their agents are trained to make their customers not want to go to their competition.  What are you doing to create loyal advocates out of your customers?

NY Office

Spent the better part of last week in our NY office to discuss all the great things to come at BPA Quality.  Just to give you a sneak peek to what is coming, here are some key words:  website, social media and staff!  I've never had such a privilege to work with a great group of people that knows so much about Quality!  More exciting news to come....