CS Chapter 3: Listening

Whew! After a long break of vacation trip and busy handling work, I finally had some time to
get back to my blog, haha...

As discuss from previous chapters, its time for new Topics: Good listener.

Ever thought of how good a listener can you be before? Its very easy to be a listener but just how good can you be?

As posted previously, communications is a Half-Duplex kind of system in order to send and receive a full 100% of messages through to each other.

But when people gets excited on certain topics discussed or eager to argue over certain matters and issues, What happens? In such a scenario, people tends to interrupt the conversations and talk as much as they can before they forgets. In this way, how well do you think each party can receive the messages?

There's also a scenario whereby when the topics becoming dull and boring, or when there are other things in each mind that's distracting and bothering them, can these people receive a full 100% messages?

These are the barriers to communications and classified into 2 categories:

Internal - Mental Flights, Selective Listening and Jump to Conclusions



External - Presenter's Delivery and External Environment

Its very natural for any living things on earth to possess these barriers to communications as an indication of whether they are interested in the topics discussed or not.

But when we do a proper communication, do we always 100% stay focus and listen till the end of the other party's speech before we start talking? If you do, congrats! You'll be a calm, good listener and an analyser of any situation, which perhaps you have the ability to becoming a great leader!

There are 3 types of listening habits, in which everyone of us can possess all these 3 types of habits depending on different situations.

Passive Listening: Usual responses are "Uh huh", "yes", "good", "right", "hmmm", "ok", "yeah", nodding head, eye contact etc.

Active Listening: Usual responses would be echoing, repeat, clarify, paraphrase and asking questions. Such reaction will let people know you are attentive to the person's conversation, but do not do such responses when someone talks halfway through and you interrupt to repeat the paraphrases. It'll might be reflected as rude and irritating.

Reflective Listening: Usual reponses are to summarise what one has talked and gives some feedbacks.

People can FEEL your emotions even by just talking over the phone or in cyber chatting when the above 3 types of listening habits are used!!

Its very simple to master the listening skills where all you need to do is to be patient and be attentive! Such a habit can let you understand the conversations well and be able to analyse situations more clearly and precisely!

Next it'll be the 4As to deal with any Customers you have faced.

Note: All the Chapters discussed are in theory basis, there's no straight right or wrong answers, its just a set of guidelines to handle anything properly. The theory reacts differently to different situations and depending on how flexible each individual applies it. But if there's no starting to try and apply, there's no starting at all. Practise to make perfects!

CS Chapter 2: Difficult Customers and Services

In everyday lives of every ERA ages, everyone in the world will definitely have some bad experiences with all different kinds of difficult Customers and Services.

Why do we have such experiences in this world?

In ancient times, when people encounter difficult Customers, fights, conflicts and even wars will be the end product of Bad Services, even now, we can still see such things happening in the world. It's due to some terms and conditions that both parties do not agree upon and do not give ways bit by bit.

Times definitely have changed, so do people. People has studied people in terms of emotions, characteristics, behaviours, mentalities, believes etc. People has learnt and imparted some skills of handling difficult Customers and Services.

Strictly speaking, all the skills learnt will only be half effective or no effect at all if only one of the party learns to communicate while the other don't and seldom or never constantly put in use. Dealing with Customers and Services is about two-way communications, half duplex system. Just like communicating with your loved ones, if communications breakdown, what will happen?

Half Duplex System is a system whereby one send messages and the other receive messages one at a time. When one person talks, the other listens, then communication is successfully established and that the other person can receive 100% messages. If both were talking at the same time, who's listening? And how much do each of them receive each other's messages?

So back to today's Topic, What's a difficult Customer and Services?
A difficult Customer is one whose actions and behaviours intentionally causes difficulties to people around them and same for Customer Service Providers.

I'm sure most of you have some experience with difficult Customers and Services. Have you not been a difficult Customers yourselves too? Well, if you have, you'll be able to understanding more for those difficult Customers and probably you can handle them more easily if you were in their shoes before, isn't it? But 1st, one has to be calmed, in controlled mood to handle difficult situation.

I've purchased an item and to be delivered on a specific weekday as they were packed with delivery schedules. As I'm working on the weekday they delivering and my parents not around to receive the package, so I've to specially take a leave to stay at home waiting for the delivery. But when the day comes, the delivery did not come on the timeslots they'll be delivering. I've made a call to the service provider and they told me that the delivery was pushed back to few days later and I wasn't informed of the delayed delivery.

What do you think was my reaction? If you were in my situation, what will your reaction be?

After the reactions you may think of, think back. Is the service poor or can there be any improvements on my part? By being angry and fuming up anger to others, will not solve any problems, but will instead create more frustrations, miserables and anger within oneselves. Things done cannot be undone unlike typing words in computer, can undo. What's done is done, but be calmed and just think back for moments if things can be better to prevent such events to occur in the future.

There are ways to actually prevent such unhappy scenarios. One of which is the service provider should have sent a notice that the delivery will be late. And the other is I should have made a call a few days earlier just to confirm if the delivery was still on its schedule, it just don't take much time to make a call to confirm.

"It takes two hands to clap or handshaking."

I don't know about your encounters, but things can be better if you were to think back and be proactive to make sure such things will not happen in the future.

Even if things still happen in similar ways, think back and analyze what can be done better before venting out anger.

It's simple, but may not be easy to do, especially on emotional part.
1. Think Back.
2. Analyse situation.
3. Be proactive to confirm again and again.
4. Implement a system to prevent same event happen again.

It's all in the mind, it's of how one can control the mind.

"Don't let emotions control you, be a Master of controlling emotions instead"

There's no one-off solution of handling Difficult Customers and Services as everyone and every situations varies. Its always easier said than done, but without a start to do it, there'll be no start at all and things will not be changed. So let's start analyze and practice to learn handling Customers and Services right away to build a better world for ourselves and generations beyond!

Next, I'll share how to be a good listener.

CS Chapter 1: Customers

Yup most of you are smart enough to get it right for the last question I've asked! That's great!

Customers are everywhere! Customers are not someone who buy our products and use our services etc. Customers are someone or something to whom you are connected with your life! They can be your bosses, spouses, colleagues, parents, siblings, family members, relatives, pets, vehicles and even your own body!

It's so easy, isn't it to know who are your CUSTOMERS?

Some of you may quote - "What a crap!" or "So what? etc".

Yup, no doubt, its a "So what?" society we may live in. Imagine a world your own to not be able to communicate well with those someone or something above, will your life be more lonely, miserable, unhappy or even devastating? Well, I guess most of you can live well also without able to communicate with some of the people or things mentioned above.

However, if you are able to communicate just nice to each and everyone, wouldn't you be living in a world of happiness, less conflicts and a great sense of living alive?

"Come on, be realistic, don't be a dreamer, this is a real world, halo, you nuts?" Some of you may see this way.

But if everyone will do their best to make things better for someone or something around themselves, I'm sure this will become true and everyone will be able to live life happily.

Said is easier than done as we all are dealing mostly with people and each has their own individual characteristics and emotions. Which is why there's this "Psychology" exist in this world.

Next, I'll share what is a difficult customer.

Re-Introductory to CUSTOMER SERVICE

A Basic and Brief introduction to CUSTOMER SERVICE

In this blog, in order to know how we can "EnJoY ThE WaY YoU WaNt LiFe To Be!!", 1st we must look at ourselves and the people around us.

Why?

In this 21st Century and beyond, we are moving towards Informative ERA, moving into an ERA where meeting people is not really a must to do in business or social life for some group of people, including me, who are doing, eg. Online businesses, Investments, cyber cafe chatting, gaming etc.

Most of us know what is CUSTOMER SERVICE, so why do I still ask or talk about CUSTOMER SERVICE here?

"Can't we just skip this boring, useless knowledge aside and keep things move on as usual, just do whatever we have to do and move on?" or "What's so important about CUSTOMER SERVICE, as if I care?" or "Why do I give it a damn?!" - as some of you may quote.

Well, if we really want to "enjoy the way we want life to be", we still need to communicate regardless if we are communicating with bosses, colleagues, spouses, friends, family members, ourselves and even animals, so as to make our lifes better.

"But what has communicating got to do with CUSTOMER SERVICE? I still don't get it..." - perhaps some of you may wonder.

Let's just say, if you are unable to communicate well with your bosses or colleagues, will you get things done SMOOTHLY? If you are unable to communicate with your spouse or family members well, are you INVITING more conflicts and disorders unneccessarily? If you are unable to communicate with your pets well, will they give you some BITES or SCRATCHES when you don't provide them enough or be nasty to them? If YOU, yourself, unable to communicate with yourself, ignoring or unaware of your body conditions and still keep eating your favourite food non-stop for few days or weeks, will your stomach not UPSET as time goes on?

So how well or how good do you provide your CUSTOMER SERVICE to the people mentioned above?

And next question, Ah... This is one of my favourite questions, do we really know who are our "CUSTOMERS"?

"CUSTOMERS" in this blog mentioned does not mean the people who buys your product or the people to whom you wanted to sell your products.

I leave it to you to think through and answers will be brought to light in next Chapter.