...difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is merely a physiological process; whereas, listening is an interpretive process (Schnell, Jim 1995).We can always learn something from listening to someone. Humans are special in that way, and as listeners, we cannot have that attitude like we know everything. Someone will always have a difference of opinion, it just matters how you will use the information. Some people may think that listening is a waste of time, but in actuality, listening is never a waste of time. The more we pay attention and push ourselves to be active listeners, the better the communication will be with our peers, leaders, employees and customers. It is very important that we understand both how we listen, as well as who is speaking to us in order to become more efficient listeners. There are many different types of listening skills these days. We have to understand how listening works, in order to improve our listening skills and to be a more effective listener. We must be actively engaged when listening, so that we can understand what is being said. We have to make sure that we listen to verbal and non-verbal communication, in order to get the full spectrum of what is being communicated to us. Here are some common listening types: active, inactive, total and partial. Of these four, active and total are the most used and successful. Listening is not easy for some people, but is a skill that people can learn. There is specific self-observation practices people...
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...learned when listening. As listeners, we cannot have an "I know everything" attitude. There is always a different opinion, or a new piece of information that can come to light. Listening is never a waste of time. We must pay attention and be active and total listeners when communicating with our peers, supervisors, employees and customers It is important to understand both how we listen as well as who is communicating to us in order to become more effective listeners. Listening Types There are many listening types and we need to understand how we are listening in order to improve and become more effective listeners. We need to be engaged when we listen to hear and understand what is being said. We need to listen to verbal and non-verbal communication to get the full effect of what is being communicated to us. Common listening types are active, inactive, total and partial. Of these, active and total are the most successful. Active listening “Listening in a way that demonstrates interest and encourages continued speaking. (Many types of listening, 2012). Listening from the point of view of the speaker is active listening. This means we listen, interpret and rephrase to ensure that we understand what is being said. As noted by Liz Bryant (2009), the goal of a good listener is “to be present, to be interested, to have time, to have respect" (Bryant, 2009). Active listening includes good body language such as...
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...years ago by Dave Kahle a renown sales management trainer and One of the not-so-surprising conclusions was this: The best sales people “listen more constructively” than their more average counterparts. I just came across some research that confirmed what many of us in the profession of educating salespeople have known for years: That purchasers would be “much more likely” to buy from a salesperson if that salesperson would just “listen” to the customer. The survey found that some of the worst offenders were experienced salespeople. Listening is one of the four fundamental competencies of a professional salesperson, and yet, the profession is, in general, so poor at it that most customers remark on our inability to do it well. a look at vacancy ad in dailies you will see more and more companies put emphasis on other sales competencies and leaving out listening. A good talker with outgoing personality fitted very well in the conventional description of a sales person. Many sales people in most companies today are oriented to talk and talk to customer until the customer/ prospects drops dead or buys! Moreover, salespeople today are so much driven by targets and with a lot of whipping from the sales managers to hit the quotas that listening to customers has become secondly. Why is listening such a powerful sales competency? 1. Customers ‘pain’ can only be identified by digging beneath the surface of a customer’s needs and uncovering deeper and more powerful needs and motivations...
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...streaming service for your computer or your mobile phone. This service allows you to browse through thousands of artists and songs. For each artist we have we supply the listener with every album that artist has made along with every song that the artist has came out with, this allows you to find the exact song you may have been looking for and can not find it anywhere else. You can look up an artist of your choice and choose to listen to streams from them and other artists or you can choose to stream through all of their albums and the bright side of that is R@DIO gives you free unlimited skips. Another feature that R@DIO offers is if you like a song you have the choice to buy it straight from the app itself, instead of searching the internet for that song. You can listen to your favorite artist anywhere you go because R@DIO also haves an app that you can download on your phone, you can either listen to it on your computer, your cellphone or a portable music player such as an iPod. R@DIO will operate through its online web site where many of its customers can go and login and access their playlists and their favorite artists. R@DIO focuses its marketing activities on reaching the people who listen to music, children, teens, young adults, adults, and the elderly, basically anyone who has a general interest in any kind of music. Market research shows that these are the customer groups that are most likely to be interested in the service. R@DIO will stream to customers who want to relax...
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...sincere desire to pay attention to what customer say? In my opinion, I think that practice being an active listener would promote the desire to pay attention to what customer are saying. By practicing active listening skills a consumer would sense that the CSR cares for their business as well as gain knowledge about the service situation. Ways to improve your active listening skills are be ready to listen, take notes, show you are listening, ask question and restate the customer’s problem in your own words. An individual should always be ready to listen physically and mentally; body language and facial expression play a big part in my opinion. Learn how to block out any distraction they may side track you from what you are being told. Be ready to take note; carry around a little notebook and pen. During the conversation write down the key points or whatever you believe will help you come up with a solution. Let the speaker know that you are taking note so they can speak clearly and slowly enough so that you understand. Show the speaker you are listening to them using body language (but nodding your head etc.) or keeping eye contact the whole time. You can even ask question to determine what the cause of the problem was. Even if you have to ask a lot of question the speaker will know you are putting forth your best effort to understand what is being said. After you hear the speaker out recite their problem back to them in your own. By following these steps an individual...
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...others will decide whether you are a good boss or bad. It will depends on how one looks at it, are you an employee or a boss. Bosses will come and go, however the good ones will always stand out from the bad ones. At the same time, ironically, it’s easy to spot both extremes, good and bad. Everyone has a difference of opinion on what makes a good boss. I have worked for several bosses and the good ones outweigh the bad. When treated with respect and understanding an employee feels good about the job they are doing, and the boss. Communication and respect are important keys to any relationship, and the relationship between a boss and an employee is no exception. Because employees are the backbone of any business, a bad employee can negatively impact a business. Good bosses teach, train, and listen to their employees when they make suggestions, as they come from personal experience with customers or with a work situation that they have found that needs attention. Communication is key in a manager and employee relationship, understanding each other is key, questions need to be asked if needed to make sure everyone is on the same page. An employee’s perspective differs from the perspective of a boss, therefore meaningful discussion between both parties can bring positive changes and this will promote on a dialog of both parties about expectations and working procedures together. On the other hand, a bad boss refuses to listen to employee viewpoints says...
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...Make Customers Come Back - Winning Customer Retention Strategies Customer Retention marketing is a tactically-driven strategy to keep relationships with customers going and increase customer interest. This strategy relies on the study of customer behavior. Here are the basic tenets of a marketer that seeks to increase customer retention: 1. Past and Current customer behavior This is the best predictor of how customers will behave in the future. They are the characteristics marketers should most often look at. Analyzing customer tendencies and trends allows the marketer to anticipate, if not predict, the customers reaction to different situations. The marketer must take note that behavior is action oriented, not a description. For example, being a 35-yearold woman is not a behavior; it’s a demographic characteristic. For example if you know from history that customer A is likely to make a purchase if presented with a discount promotion, then you might want to change your marketing tactics to include promotional selling when approaching this customer. A great deal of observation is needed if you desire to predict your customers’ behavior. This involves a great deal of notetaking as well as watching what reaction the customer has to different situations. 2. Active customers are happy customers Happy customers are retained customers. If your keep your customers involved, they develop a sense of contentment from the fact that they are in control. Marketers will take advantage of this...
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...COMMUNICATION ANALYSIS ON CUSTOMER COMPLAINS Submitted to: Sir Johnny Perlas By: Stephanie Luber Christina Leong January 19, 2012 There isn’t a fast food restaurant or retail store that hasn’t come across an angry customer. It can become very stressful working with an unhappy customer. The resentment of the customer prevents us from resolving the initial problem. This is a serious issue for businesses that want healthy relationships with their customers. Although you may resent it, customer complaints are healthy for the growth and survival of the business and it's possible to handle them in a productive way. Handling complaints is never an easy or enjoyable challenge. That said, if management can promote a pro-active approach to dealing with dissatisfied customers then there is every chance such negative situations can be turned into satisfying and memorable encounters for the customer. That’s the same customer that will tell all of their friends about you if you don’t handle their complaint appropriately. A complaining customer is your most important customer, they may be complaining because service levels are deteriorating, because the product no longer performs to their expectations, or even because they have heard that one of your competitors are doing things better than you. So, what happens when a complaint is not handled well, or even worse, the customer doesn’t even bother complaining in the first place? Customers go elsewhere: Even the best...
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...people have started to use technology to record the calories burned as well as monitor their heart rate while working out. Most people have a heart rate monitor and then have to record their information manually to another program in order to keep track of how well they are doing. Samsung has met with this issue by including a Smart watch called the Gear and the Gear Fit in which connects to its Samsung Galaxy 5 and automatically records information from your work out. The company has also included many other features that go along with the use of both its smart phone the Galaxy 5 and its Smart Watch the Gear and Gear Fit. Samsung has cornered the market with this innovative smart watch introducing a new way to stay fit and get healthy and making it easier to maintain records of all of your fitness endeavors. “Introducing Samsung’s first network-connected wearable.** So now you can make and answer calls when your phone isn’t nearby. You can also check texts, emails, updates— even stream and listen to music, right from your wrist.” (Samsung, 2014) Background “At Samsung, we follow a simple business philosophy: to devote our talent and technology to creating superior products and services that contribute to a better global society. (Samsung, 2014).” Samsung is one of the leaders in the mobile technology world. Offering one of the best in the Android line the Samsung Galaxy. The company has found a niche in the technology world including mobile accessories that are wearable...
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...Introduce Yourself, Then Shut-Up and Listen The sales experience is not about the sales associate, it is about the customer. It is a courtship ritual to determine if the customer values the goods or services enough to invest in them by making a purchase. There is only one way to find out what the customer values, wants or needs and that is to listen intensely. If you are thinking about the next thing that you are going to promote then you can not concentrate on what the customer is telling you. Rather, think about how you can repeat what the customer is saying in your own words and you will be forced to listen intently to what they tell you. A successful sales professional can reflect the emotion as well as the content of a customer conversation. 2. Why the Offer is Important to the Individual Customer As new sales representatives learn about the company, products or services that they represent it is a natural inclination to initiate conversations by spewing facts and features like a walking commercial. Don't assume that the customer cares how you do something, how long you have done it or what you have been told makes you unique. The customer has a life with priorities, deadlines and responsibilities of his or her own. Show the customer what aspects of your offer are important from the customer perspective and resist the urge to talk about any other things that are not relevant. Of course, you will only know this if you have listened to your customer. 3. Get Confirmation, Then Explain...
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... The Hardships of Restaurant Work Weather it be Expediting food or serving tables, wouldn't it be nice if your job was easy? How about being able to satisfy all of your customers, that would be extremely helpful. Unfortunately this is not the case, we all have to sacrifice in order to get through the work day. With all the ruckus goes on in a restaurant, employees must keep focus on their job to do it well. Workers should try to keep personal problems from affecting them during shift hours. To make the job easier an employee must know how to communicate with people; while having knowledge of the food, but at the same time being able to multitask. A lot of people today do not have good people skills, and need to work on it. Although Expediters do not deal with customers face to face, but there is always chance to make customers unhappy. If a worker is in this situation, they must keep calm and listen to what the customer has to say. Usually workers only half listen because of their frustration towards the guest. But one should listen to the customer’s needs and perspective to better understand the problem. In the process workers should try to meet all of the guests needs, and do not let emotions get in the way. It is never out of style to have courtesy towards people who might be ruining your day. One should try to be professional and be the better person. Other than having good people skills workers also need to have knowledge...
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...Customer relations final. 1. Service breakdowns and recovery. Service breakdown is the situation when customers have expectations of a certain type or level of service that are not met by a service provider. Those situations can happen anywhere whether the customer is at the store, a restaurant, or a hotel. I am a server and the service breakdown is inevitable. It has happened to me before and usually it is not done purposely. The restaurant I work at offers their customers discounts in form of coupons. Some customers present their coupon once they are seated, when I am responsible for holding on to it and applying it to their check towards the end of their visit. I have forgotten to apply the discount to customers check before and once they have noticed they would question me. I would immediately apologize and make sure that they do get the discount. That’s where the service recovery comes in the picture. The customer service representative is obligated to apologize to the customer and fix the problem immediately, so the customer gets to enjoy their visit, and so their high expectations can be met. Dissatisfied customers are people who don’t receive products or services they have been promised. There are several reasons and causes for customer dissatisfaction and one of them is poor service. Fox example, when I am at the mall shopping and walk in one of the department stores it is nice to be greeted and noticed. If I am looking at jewelry and I am interested in buying...
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...WHAT DO WE MEAN BY ‘EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE’? ‘Quality’ is the customer’s overall view of the relative superiority/inferiority of a service or product. Customer satisfaction depends on experience of individual service transactions and feelings about the overall service received - a customer’s previous experience can significantly add to or diminish their level of expectation. We have an opportunity to 'add value' through the way we provide customer care. Factors influencing Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction: responsiveness attentiveness/helpfulness care friendliness These factors, though largely intangible, are critical. Customers look for ‘value for money’ – this is not the same as the cheapest option. Responsiveness respond quickly to customers respond appropriately if they have had a negative experience (for example if they have been kept waiting) - ‘I’m very sorry you were kept waiting, how can I help?’ under promise and over deliver respect the customer’s need for information and control (ie a need to feel that they have an impact on what happens) build your knowledge of your service/product, organisation and communication channels – the customer’s perception of the organisation will be improved through your informed approach successfully managing a customer transaction requires personal communication skills including active listening and effective questioning The Importance of Courtesy, Helpfulness...
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...and the vacancy that I am applying is Customer Service Representative in Tesco. Main Body/ Background Research Personal skills means the skills used by a person to properly interact with others. These personal skills are the character traits possessed by an individual. They determine how one addresses issues to find a solution. Employability skills means a group of essential abilities that involve the development of a knowledge base, expertise level and mind-set that is increasingly necessary for success in the modern workplace. Communication skills mean abilities in the areas of language understanding, communicating expressively, and practical language skills. Personal skills required in the vacancy The personal skills required in this vacancy can be founded in the job description. It can be clearly understudied that mainly personal skills in this vacancy is problem solving skills. This is because customers stay with companies that meet their needs so the employer must have strong experience of problem solving. This basically means the ability to understand a problem by breaking it down into smaller parts, and identify the key issues, implications and identifying solutions. To apply your knowledge from many different areas to solving a task. Also, the employer needs to be interpersonal. This basically means how well you get along with others. This means that you have to be controlled and explain what you mean clear, listen and relate to the other people and to...
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...while introducing the organization overreaching goals. Training methods will be introduced. After reading this paper you will have a greater understanding on Rent-A-Center as a whole organization, and how they turn their employees into excellent sales agents. Primary Product Not all companies have the privileges to sell just one product to be successful. At Rent-A-Center they offer a wide variety of merchandise, but they focus on their wide selection of television. Rent-A-Center is always offering mind blowing deals and discounts on their television sets. You have the ability to get a 55’’ and a 32’’ television sets for only 24.99 a week. Rent-A-Center also has it where you can bundle a 32’’ television with any purchase for an extra five dollars. Television was designed to bring entertainment into one’s home. The size of your television was a key indicator as to how much a person made. The bigger the television, the more money that person was assumed to have. Focus Rent-A-Centers main focus is sales driven. The more you are able to sell the more money you are able to make. Rent-A-Center holds monthly competition for districts. Rewarding the store with the most sales with a launch or gift cards. The overreaching goal for Rent-A-Center is “improve the quality of life-one heart at a time” which means, by making items affordable and easy to make it your own, you are...
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