Importance of Listening

for Customer Service

The most basic and powerful way to
connect to another person is to listen.
Just listen.  Perhaps the most important
thing we ever give each other is our
attention.
Rachel Naomi Remen
How is listening different from hearing ?
1. Hearing refers to the sounds that enter your ears. It
is a physical process that, provided you do not have
any hearing problems, happens automatically.
2. Listening means paying attention not only to the
story, but how it is told, the use of language and
voice, and how the other person uses his or her body.

Listening Process
Interplay: the process of interpersonal communicating (8th
.
edn), Fort Worth (Adler,R.,Rosenfeld,L. and Proctor,R.

(2001)
Characteristics of Effective Listener
Passive listener
Ineffective notes
Poor eye contact
Don’t paraphrase
 mind wandering too much
Interrupt and disagree
judgmental

Characteristics of Ineffective
Listeners
Listen actively
Take full and detailed notes
Depending on culture make frequent eye
contact
Stay focused on speaker and the content
Save questions until an appropriate time
Overlook the stylistic differences and
focus on message

How to avoid being Passive

Listener
Being an “Active” Listener