How to be a Better Listener: The Ultimate Guide

One of the greatest gifts we can give a fellow human is to be a good listener. A good customer service training program provides participants with specific techniques to improve listening skills. Being a good listener is the fourth principle of the 5 Principles of IT Customer Service Success. Here’s why it matters, and how you can improve your listening skills today.

Why Listening Matters

Good listening saves time and prevents unnecessary frustration. When you listen well, you’re more likely to correctly identify the solution to a customer or coworker’s problem. Listening is a crucial part of good customer service and teamwork. When you listen well, your customer or coworker feels heard and respected because they will have confidence that you understand their issue. 

Benefits of Listening Well

There are many benefits to implementing more effective listening skills, including:

• Better customer reviews.
• Faster service calls.
• Stronger relationships. 
• Fewer misunderstandings.
• Improved workplace culture.

How to Be a Better Listener: 10 Strategies to Implement Today

Becoming a more effective listener doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are ten strategies you can implement TODAY to immediately improve your interactions with customers, coworkers, and even your personal relationships.

10. Lose distractions. Give your undivided attention to the other person. Don’t think about that firewall you need to set up, that update you need to apply, or that report you need to finish. Don’t let your mind wander to lunch, your upcoming vacation, or anything other than your conversation partner. Focus only on them. Think about how much you appreciate it when a customer service provider does the same for you.

9. Be patient. Don’t finish thoughts or sentences for the other person. Sometimes people need time to organize their thoughts to be sure they’re communicating their needs accurately. Be patient and let them finish. Resist the urge to jump in or talk over the other person. Remember how frustrated you felt the last time someone did that to you and avoid doing the same to someone else.

8. Don’t get defensive. Defensiveness leads to closed-mindedness. When you feel yourself starting to get defensive, pause and take a breath. Remind yourself that you might not agree with what the other person is saying, but you need to hear it. The other person wants to believe that you hear what they have to say. They’ll notice if you become defensive. Resist the temptation to respond defensively. Just listen and acknowledge. If a response is required, you can do that later after you’ve gathered your thoughts. You can’t provide good customer service when you’re defensive.

7. Paraphrase what you just heard. This is a key element of active listening to ensure you and the other person are on the same page. Say something like, “Let me summarize my understanding of your issue to make sure I’m not overlooking anything.” However, use discretion and don’t overuse this technique. If the call is about a simple issue, don’t make it seem bigger than it is. Be sensitive to the other person and their time.

6. Listen to understand and remember. Stephen Covey’s Habit Number Five says to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” This means you listen to understand and remember what the other person is saying. Instead of thinking ahead about your response, stay in the moment and concentrate on what’s being said. Sometimes, it helps you remember the conversation if you pretend there will be a test on what was said.

5. Be thoughtful about eye contact. I always debate about whether to keep this tip, because the desirability of eye contact varies by culture and from individual to individual. Still, as a customer service provider, you need to know that there are people in some cultures, including the United States, who believe you’re being dishonest if you don’t look them in the eye. It’s not true and it’s not fair, but that myth persists. There are people in other cultures who believe that looking someone in the eye is a sign of aggression. Some neurodivergent people are uncomfortable looking others directly in the eye. If you are a neurodivergent person, be aware that others may misunderstand your lack of eye contact. If you’re dealing with a conversation partner who won’t make eye contact or who seems uncomfortable with it, remember that there may be cultural or individual reasons why someone would avoid eye contact that have nothing to do with dishonesty or guilt.

4. Allow natural pauses in the conversation. We live in a media-centric world where dead air feels foreign and uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that can make conversations feel rushed. Don’t feel obligated to jump in and fill the void when there’s a pause in the conversation. It’s even okay to say something like, “Give me a moment to let that sink in.”

3. Be an active listener. Active listening means that you’re engaged with the speaker. You listen closely to understand what they’re saying, use body language (like nodding your head) to portray that you’re listening, and ask relevant follow-up questions to gain a deeper understanding of what they’re saying.

2. Keep an open mind. In IT customer service, it’s understandable that you feel like you’ve heard most problems before. The problem with that is that sometimes your customer or coworker will be dealing with an issue that’s slightly different from what you expect. Keep an open mind. Make sure to hear and understand the entire issue before you decide how to deal with it.

1. Stop talking. I was trying to explain a problem to someone at a hobby shop, but he wouldn’t stop talking long enough to understand the problem. He kept jumping in and talking over me. I finally had to say, “Just let me finish!” When you’re talking, you only hear what you already know. To understand your customer or coworker, stop talking and listen. When you do talk, ask questions to gain a deeper understanding.

Improve Your Team’s Listening Skills with IT Customer Service Training

Ready to level up your team’s listening skills? Enroll your team now in Compassionate Geek IT online customer service training so they can work together, get things done, and take care of customers.