Is there anything more exasperating than telling the organizational representative what you need only to discover that you have to repeat it again? From a customer’s point of view, probably not. Whether you are on the phone or face-to-face with your customer, how well you listen is critical to good service. Let your customers talk, and show signs of active listening, like brief interjections, clarifying questions, or suggestions about how to solve the problem.

Did you know that most of us only listen to about 25% of what we hear? We can undermine our own ability to listen by adding our own internal noise to the communication. Here are some ways that can happen.

• One way is by letting our biases color what we hear. Biases might include prejudging a customer by his or her appearance, attitude, accent, or language.
• For a variety of reasons, we might assume we know the customer’s needs before we actually hear them out.
• Do you ever plan your response to people who are speaking while they are still talking? That is pseudo listening, another practice that keeps us from listening completely.

TIP: Reinforce listening to your customer by taking brief notes. Your notes will allow you to reflect back on your customer’s key points. When you repeat those key points to the customer, he or she will be gratified that you paid attention. You will also have notes to use remind you how to follow up.

In addition to letting your customer have his or her say, meeting the customer’s needs often requires that you probe for more information. When a customer asks you a general question, you can save both you and your customer time and energy by clarifying the request before you give an answer.

[Overheard in the library]
“I need an article on Soccer.”
“Is the article for an assignment or for pleasure reading?
“It’s for an assignment.”
“Does your instructor require you to use a particular type of source such as peer reviewed journals, popular sports magazines, or current newspapers?”
“It has to be a report on a research study.”
“Then you want a peer reviewed journal. Let me show you how to find an article.”

When you listen well and probe for complete information, you:

• Figure out what your customer wants and needs
• Gather clues about way to improve the service you provide
• Prevent misunderstanding and errors
• Build strong relationships with your customers for the long-term

When in doubt about what customers are telling you, believe them (at least until you can confirm their claims). Sometimes the customer’s claim you initially thought was 100% wrong will turn out to be right. This will save you from being unprofessional or rude.

[Overheard at a reception desk] “Let’s check the calendar to verify what you saw. Sure enough—that’s the wrong date and time. Thanks for pointing this out to me. I’ll make sure we get the calendar corrected.”

[Overheard in the computer lab] “I see why your professor failed to get your email. The file you tried to send was too large to go through. Here’s what we can do…”

TIP: Have you ever had an employee treat you like a dummy or use a condescending tone of voice? If so, then you know how demeaning it feels. Monitor your words and tone so that you don’t inadvertently communicate, “Only an idiot wouldn’t understand this.”

After you have listened to your customer, you might have a chance to fill in whatever gaps there are in the customer’s understanding of how you will meet their needs. Giving your customers the big picture will help them work with you more effectively. Showing them how to help speed the process along in the future will save you both time. Even if you’re in the middle of a problem that it is too late to undo, providing customers missing information will make them feel better served.

[Overheard in the Financial Aid office] “I’m glad you brought this to our attention. The information you need is right here in your packet, but it’s buried. Let’s go through your packet and see if I can point out any other issues that might concern you.”

TIP: Never try this strategy with an angry customer. You can’t educate customers when they are very angry. Choosing to reeducate at the wrong moment is a sure way to make the customer even more angry. (Imagine saying this to a stressed and angry customer: “You know, you could have avoided all of this if you had brought your paperwork in on time.”) Look for ways to avoid embarrassing any customer, but especially angry customers.

A very important step in defusing an angry customer is to summarize the complaint, and ask them “did I understand you correctly?” For example, after a customer complains about not being notified of an important deadline, you might say:

“You are upset because we told you that we would email you when the deadline arrived, but you did not receive a notice from us. Is this correct?” Wait until they say “yes” or give you more clarification. Repeat what you heard so that they know you understand their complaint.

Rather than immediately looking for a solution, simply say “I can understand why you would be upset. That would upset me too.” Or…
“I understand that it bothered you.” Or…
“I’m really sorry that you had to go through that. It must have been very frustrating.”

Remember, this is not accepting blame or agreeing with their complaint. It’s simply showing them that you heard them and understand why they are upset.

Rather than telling them what you can do, simply ask “how can we resolve this for you?” Or, “what would you like us to do?” Then wait for their suggestion. If it’s a reasonable request, then you can do what they want and it will be solved. If the request is unreasonable you simply say, “I don’t have the ability to do what you ask, but here’s what I can do for you.” Explain what you can do, and ask,” is this okay with you?”

Once you arrive at a workable solution, thank them.

“Thank you for telling us about this. We appreciate it when people let us know how to improve our services.”

Remember to:

• Respond as an understanding friend rather than citing policies.
• Make the resolution seem as easy as possible.
• Be firm but understanding with your answers.

As a last resort, offer to have your supervisor talk to the customer. Your supervisor may say the same things as you, but sometimes hearing it from someone else has a positive effect.