Page 90 - Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Principle 6 Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Listen and Respond

One of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is Seek
first to understand, then to be understood. He identified five
levels of listening - the first four are within your frame of
reference, only the fifth level, empathetic listening, is within the
other person’s frame. This is the level you must inhabit to truly
get on your clients’ wavelength and appreciate their reality.

There is a real challenge with this as listening is not something
that’s done well - and there are some very good reasons for that.
A person talks at a rate of around 125 words a minute yet has the
ability to listen at a rate of 400 words a minute. This often means
you are way ahead of the person who is talking and can therefore
get distracted. Your mind wanders and you either end up thinking
of something else or find the speaker’s words triggering a
connection in your brain that links with information you’d like to
share. At this point you are in a mode better described as waiting
to interrupt. Real listening, as described by Covey, takes
commitment, effort and a genuine interest. It takes practice and
is worth mastering if you want to enjoy a mutually beneficial,
sustainable and profitable relationship with your clients.

Ask questions and give your client time to think and respond,
rather than jumping in to share your opinion. Only when the
person has fully expressed their perspective should you offer your
contribution.

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