Think you are a great listener? According to one survey, (ok …it was in Cosmopolitan!) everyone thinks that they are a great driver, a great lover, and a great listener!<\/p>\n
Really actively listening to customers and colleagues does two things…<\/p>\n
It makes them feel valued, and …you get information from them. An Italian proverb says (or was it Jewish?) From speaking comes repentance from listening wisdom! Active listening is just that…<\/p>\n
It\u2019s encouraging the talker and asking questions, summarising and paraphrasing.<\/p>\n
Using closed body language can give the impression that you are fed up, angry, or defensive. According to one researcher, 55% of our communication is centrered about body language and appearance. (I don\u2019t believe a word of that but it\u2019s certainly very high!)<\/p>\n
Always think …\u201dWhat\u2019s in it for them?\u201d Be prepared to \u2018sell\u2019 your ideas!<\/p>\n
Also, try the alternative close …offer options …all of which are favourable to you…like \u201cCan you do it by today or tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the philosophy of the quality contact…every contact that you have with internal and external customers achieves its communication objective but leaves the other person feeling \u2018good\u2019, so next time that they hear your voice or see your name it gives them the feel good factor! Does anyone give you the feel sick\/lousy factor as soon as they walk into your office? This philosophy first came from Thames Valley Police many years ago during their quality initiative.<\/p>\n
You know that it isn\u2019t what you say…it is the way that you say it …you can say the same thing and whilst the words can be caring and nice one minute spoken in different voice tone and those same words can make you sound threatening, aggressive, condescending, or aggravated!<\/p>\n
Not aggressive, not passive…say what you want…say it clearly and specifically whilst taking the other persons feelings and rights into account.<\/p>\n
People who are upbeat are nicer to have around and you are more likely to want to spend time in their company, unless … hanging around with depressives rocks your boat! It costs nothing to stay cheerful and positive yet this can change the whole climate of your working environment. Try to put a positive spin on things.<\/p>\n
Biggest mistakes? Rambling, murmuring, muttering and not keeping it focused and friendly. When making call have in mind your objective. What do you want to get out of this call? Remember that they can\u2019t see your cheerful smiling face so verbal nods are required just to let the person on the other know that you are still listening!<\/p>\n
In an effort to be efficient we sometimes forget the pleasantries…please, and thank you, and even worse forget that it is so easy to sound cold and harsh in print.<\/p>\n
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Top Tips to Improve Communications! 1. Active listening Think you are a great listener? According to one survey, (ok …it was in Cosmopolitan!) everyone thinks that they are a great driver, a great lover, and a great listener! Really actively listening to customers and colleagues does two things… It makes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nelsons-quick-tips"],"mb":[],"yoast_head":"\n