Every call center agent should master active listening. By mastering this skill, an agent is more likely to deliver a positive customer service experience in each customer interaction. It bears mentioning, however, that active listening goes beyond just hearing and understanding the words coming out of the caller’s mouth.
It’s a dynamic process that requires the agent’s full engagement. Active listening can be a difficult skill to master, but it is far from impossible. Here are tips to help call center agents maintain active listening while on the job.
1. Be in the moment
A call center agent needs to give the customer their undivided attention when they finish their standard welcome spiel. In short, they have to remain in the moment and not allow distractions to distract them from what the customer is saying.
Granted, customers sometimes go on tangents and might even head towards boring territory. However, that is no excuse for agents to get sidetracked. The moment their thoughts start to wander, they have to force themselves to refocus.
2. Empathize
Knowing how to put yourself in the customer’s shoes comes with call center agent territory. Empathy is a skill that can help agents focus better on what customers say. This is why it’s essential that agents are trained and reminded to always understand where the caller is coming from, even when the caller is acting unreasonably.
Listening is always easier when there’s a genuine desire to help. The same rule applies to conversations between customers and call center agents.
3. Don’t Jump to Conclusions
Call center agents often handle similar issues on a daily basis, which may make the job feel repetitive to them. Because of this, agents may fall into the trap of jumping to conclusions when a customer talks about an issue they’ve heard many times before. This is a critical error customer service representatives need to avoid at all costs.
Agents need to keep an open mind when listening and talking to customers. This ensures they’re not missing out on critical information and subtle cues to help them arrive at the best solution.
4. Ask for Clarifications When Needed
Even the most skilled listener can get confused by what a speaker is saying, especially when it contains many complex or seemingly unrelated ideas. This is why agents have to be reminded not to shy away from asking for clarification when something is confusing or unclear.
More often than not, callers will take it as a cue that the representative is listening and genuinely interested in helping out. That said, agents have to wait for the caller to pause before asking for clarification. Reps can say something like, “Could you clarify that for me, please?”
5. Master Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is the process of restating what the speaker has said in different words and, whenever necessary, in a slightly different context. It’s an important skill to have because it shows the caller that the agent is paying close attention and assures the customer that the agent can fully understand their issue.
Ultimately, when done well, paraphrasing makes customers feel that their issue is being addressed with urgency.
Key Takeaway:
In a world becoming even more beset with distractions, active listening is starting to feel like a lost art. Let this not be the case in your offshore call center. When push comes to shove, active listening makes it possible for humans to make meaningful connections with each other. The same rule applies to both providers and customers.