SOFT SKILLS

SDQ
 TOPICS
• Listening Skills
• Probing Skills
• Handling Irate customers
• Professionalism
• Opening & closing
 Listening Skills

Real Listening is an active process:-

Hearing- Hearing just means listening enough to catch what the speaker is
saying.

Understanding- Take what you have heard and understand it in your on way.

Judging- Understand what the speaker has said, think about whether it makes
sense.

We probably spend more time using our Listening skills than any other
kind of skill..Like other skills, listening takes
PRACTICE…
Listen- Silent

• Allow the customer to speak first and let him finish.

• Listening and Hearing are two distinctive terms..

• Hear – a noise

• Listen – to a speaker
Keys to effective Listening

• Maintain concentration

• Focus on content, not delivery

• Avoid emotional involvement

• Avoid distraction

• Use the gap between the rate of speech and your rate of
thought
Cont..

• Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.

• Give the speaker regular feedback, e.g., summarize, reflect

feelings etc

• When in doubt whether to listen or speak, keep listening

Level of Listening

Tuned In – Complete Attention

• Alert
• Interested
• Concerned
• Involved
• Open
• Thinking
• Asking Questions
• Taking Notes
Barriers to Listening:-

•External Distractions – Immediate Surroundings

•Internal Distractions –anxiety,mental stress

•Hard-to-listen-to-speakers - strong accents, MTI, very fast,

very slow

•Self/Product Focus – Interested in what you have to

say rather than what customer has to say
 What is probing?
• PROBING IS ASKING THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS ,(WHEN THE MESSAGE IS
UNCLEAR AND YOU NEED TO UNCOVER
MORE INFORMATION), TO BETTER
UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SPEAKER IS
SAYING
 HOW TO HANDLE
IRATE CUSTOMERS
I : Individual
R : Rare
A : Adorable
T : Talkative
E : Emotional
 The Ten Commandments

• Calm the customer down

• Have the confidence to deal with any customer/situation
• Be tolerant, courteous and patient
• Focus on the issue and not on the behavior
• Look at the situation from customer’s perspective and not
yours
• Avoid taking things personally
• Ask in-depth questions. Never guess or assume
• Listen effectively. Avoid multi-tasking
• Look for viable solutions
• Focus on what can be done rather than what cannot be
done
 SIX ELEMENT OF
PROFESSIONALISM
• MANAGE THE CUSTOMER CALL.
• KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
• BE A TEAM PLAYER
• TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
• MAKE A COMMITMENT
How to Open and Close a Call
• On a customer service call, opening is as
important as closing
• On a customer service call your
professionalism is the first thing a
customer or prospect sees. Then
comes that all important first line.
• If you're on the phone, the opening line is
even more important. It's all you've got.
You can't say look at my nice suit. It's just
words .
Never forget:
• Your regular customers are someone
else's prospects
• You will rarely have all their business
• On every call there is something that
you want to offer your customer
• As a customer they will choose
whether or not to buy or come back to
you for the solution
 How to achieve your objectives

• You should:
• Relax and be natural (but not casual)
• Smile (make it genuine and friendly)
• Be enthusiastic (its infectious)
• Be positive
• Put yourself in the customer's shoes (how do you feel when you
are interrupted)
• Keep appointments made to call back at specific times (reasons
are never excuses)
• Speak their name and get it right
• Be courteous and cheerful
• Don't assume a welcome, earn it
 What you say and how you say it

• Voice and words can make or ruin them

• Prepare your opening remarks carefully
• Try to be interesting to the customer
(Ask about their needs)
• Sound happy-”smile in your voice”
• Convey energy, excitement and confidence
in your call.
 Opening
 
• Hindi : (A) Namaskar ( Name of the cust ) ,
mera naam _____ hai , aapki kis prakar sahayata
kar sakti hoon. (In case pop up is reflecting)
•  
• (B) Namaskar mera naam _____ hai , aapki kis
prakar sahayata kar sakti hoon. ? (In case pop up
is not reflecting).
 
Keep in mind
• Your tone makes a difference.
• You should be clearly understandable through out the call( no speech habits).
• Be polite and pleasant, personalize every interaction by using available
information (congratulations on your marriage, I hope you had a nice
vacation,)
• Adapt caller’s rapport” style”(business like,amiable, talkative, hurried).
• Apologies for and corrected misunderstanding tactfully.
 Call Close
• Summarize
• Offer further Assistance
• Comprehend
• Thank the Customer
• Call Exit
 Closing Script :

• English : Thank you for calling Idea, you

were talking to _________, have a nice
day / evening.
• Hindi : Idea mein call karne ke liye
dhanyawaad., aap __________ se baat kar
rahe thay/ hai."
 
 Points to remember
• Personalize ending of the call(apart from thank you , you
can say have a nice day, weekend).
• For transferred calls inform caller whom/where they were
connected and added additional information or
pleasantries.
• Ask for any further assistance(is there anything else I may help
you with).
• Exit with a smile
 Thank you!!

Keep Smiling Always!