Chapter 05 – Listening to the Customer
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• Doing so shows that they are indeed listening and committed to getting
things right or taking appropriate action.
VI. Information–Gathering Techniques
• The purpose of listening to customers is to gather information about their needs
or wants on which service providers can base decisions on how to best satisfy
them.
• Service providers should use questions to determine customer needs and to
verify and clarify information received.
A. Open-End Questions
• This type of questioning follows the time-tested approach of the five Ws and
one H used by journalists, who ask questions that help determine who, what,
when, where, why, and how about a given situation.
• Open-end questions establish a number of facts and are used to seek
substantial amounts of information and encourage dialogue.
Identify Customer Needs
• By asking questions, one can help determine customer needs and what
he or she wants or expects.
• This is a crucial task because some customers are either unsure of what
they need or want or do not adequately express their needs or wants.
Gather a Lot of Information
• Open-end questions are helpful when service providers are just
beginning a customer relationship and aren’t sure what the customer has
in mind or what’s important.
• By uncovering more details, service providers can better serve their
customers.
Uncover Background Data
• When a customer calls to complain about a problem, often he or she has
already taken unsuccessful steps to solve it.
o In such cases, it is important to find out the background information
about the customer or situation.
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Uncover Objections during a Sale
• During sales or cross-selling or upselling products or services to current
customers, service representatives will likely encounter objections.
• The reasons for a customer not wanting or needing a product and/or
service can be identified through the use of open-end questions.
Give the Customer an Opportunity to Speak
• Although it is important to control the conversation in order to save time
and thus allow one to serve more customers, sometimes service
providers may want to give the customer an opportunity to talk.
• This is crucial if the customer is upset or dissatisfied about something.
Examples of Open-End Questions
• “What suggestions for improving our complaint-handling process should I
present to my supervisor?”
• “Why is this feature so important to you?”
• “How has the printer been malfunctioning, Jim?”
• “What is the main use of this product?”
• “What are some of the common symptoms that you have been
experiencing?”
B. Closed-End Questions
• Closed-end questions start with verbs such as do, did, are, and will; elicit
short, one-syllable responses; and gain little new information.
• Closed-end questions can be used for verifying information, closing an order,
gaining agreement, and clarifying information.
Verifying Information
• Closed-end questions are a quick way to check what was already said or
agreed on.
• Using them reinforces that the service provider is listening and also helps
prevent him or her from making mistakes because they misinterpreted or
misunderstood information.
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Closing an Order
• Once service providers have discovered the needs and presented the
benefits and features of their product and service, they need to ask for a
buying decision.
o This brings closure to the discussion.
Gaining Agreement
• When there has been ongoing dialogue and closure or commitment is
needed, closed-end questions can often bring about that result.
Clarifying Information
• Closed-end questions can help ensure that the service providers have
correct details and thus help prevent future misunderstandings or
mistakes.
o They also help save time and reduce the number of complaints
and/or product returns service providers or someone else will have
to deal with.
Examples of Closed-End Questions
• “Do you agree that we should begin right away?” (obtaining agreement).
• “Mrs. Leonard, did you say this was your first visit to our restaurant?”
(verifying understanding).
• “Mr. Morris, did you say you normally travel three or four times a month
and have been doing so for the past 10 years?” (verifying facts).
• “Is the pain in your tooth constant or just periodic?”(gathering
information).
• “So, shall I wrap these items for you so that you can make that
appointment you mentioned, Mr. Carroll?” (closing an order).
VII. Additional Question Guidelines
A. Avoid Criticism
• Service providers should be careful not to seem to be critical in the way they
ask questions.
• Nonverbal messages delivered via tone or body language can suggest
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criticism, even if the service providers’ spoken words do not.
B. Ask Only Positively Phrased Questions
• As service providers interact with their customers, it is crucial to send
messages in an open, pleasant manner.
o This is done by tone of voice and proper word selection.
C. Ask Direct Questions
• Being very specific with one’s questions can often result in receiving useful
information and can save time and effort.
o This should not be construed to mean that service providers should be
abrupt or curt in their communication with customers or anyone else.
D. Ask Customers How You Can Better Serve
• Service providers will find no better or easier way to determine what
customers want and expect than to ask them.
o Customers will appreciate it, and service providers will do a better job
serving them.
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Class Activities and Sample Assignments
2. Ask for five volunteers to come to the front of the class. Then, ask the class to ask
them the following questions. After each student has answered the questions, ask
a. Favorite animal
b. Favorite color
c. What they did last weekend
d. Favorite food
e. Least favorite food
3. Brainstorm with students how a listener knows you are listening. Then, ask students
to get a partner. Have them discuss the following topics and practice active listening
techniques. (LO 5-2 through 5-3)
a. What plans do you have this weekend?
b. What would your ideal vacation be?
c. If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
4. Ask students to pay attention to every conversation they have for the rest of the day
and then ask them to notice when they were or were not practicing good listening
skills. Then, that evening or the next morning, they should write down the certain
circumstances that made them good listeners and not-so-good listeners. Which
whiteboard to discuss.
5. Ask students to count off to two and then ask the ones to think of the most important
moment of their life and get ready to tell a story about it. Then, ask the ones to
leave the room. While they are gone, direct the twos to show poor-listening body
language (e.g., no eye contact, doodling while talking, etc.). Tell them as soon as
the ones come back in the room and start talking, they should exhibit this behavior
until you tap on the desk (quietly, so as not to make it obvious to the ones). Invite
the ones back in and ask them to sit in front of anyone and tell them their story. Of
course, the twos won’t be listening and it will be interesting to observe the behavior.
a. Explain that the twos were instructed to not listen. How did it feel to not be able
to listen or not be listened to?
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b. What kinds of nonverbal listening (or non-listening) skills did your partner
exhibit?
Discussion Opportunities
1. When would you use closed-ended questions as opposed to open-ended
3. What is an example of a personal obstacle you have experienced which has
4. Which of the listening steps is the hardest for you? Explain some strategies you
5. How can biases create listening barriers? Do you have specific biases that have
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In the Real World Notes
Transportation—Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines had a rocky road to its startup. Incorporated in 1967, it never actually
started flying until June of 1971 because of lengthy legal challenges by other major
airlines. When it finally started services between Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Dallas
and San Antonio, Texas, it used three Boeing 737 aircraft and offered $20 one-way
fares. Soon, they introduced a $10.00 “night fare” and several other attractive schemes.
In 1973, Southwest ended the year with its first profits since starting operation and
started developing a loyal customer. By the 1990s, Southwest had become well
established as a major passenger carrier with popular campaigns that focused on
families such as the “Family Fare”. By 2000, the company had moved up to number 2
on Forbes List and had expanded the Rapid Rewards program for customers that it had
started several years earlier. Beyond that, as the decade progressed and moved into
the second decade of the century, Southwest instituted a number of other discount flight
initiatives that encouraged air travel and expanded its customer reach.
1. Based on what you read here and learned on the airline’s website, what are the
company’s strengths related to customer service?
2. Would you fly Southwest, if you have not already? Why or why not?
3. As a current or potential customer of the airline, what would you expect as a service
experience from the airline?
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Work It Out Notes
Work It Out 5.1—Implied Messages
This Work it Out box reinforces the concept that many customer messages are implied
rather than actually spoken to service providers, This exercise is good to prove the point
that excellent listeners should hear the subtleties of a request rather than just direct
requests. If your class tends to be quieter, consider making this a class activity by
asking for volunteers to perform the scenarios in front of the whole class.
Work It Out 5.2—Personal Listening Experiences
This box asks students to think about experiences they have had in which a customer or
someone else did a good job listening to them. Further, try to point out some of the
behaviors that show someone isn’t listening. You can dig deeper and ask students how
they feel when this occurs compared to how they feel when someone has listened to
them well.
Work It Out 5.3—Personal Habits
This box asks students to think about their own personal nutritional (e.g., how many
meals a day they eat, snacks, quantities, and when they eat) and exercise (e.g., how
often, duration, and type of exercise) habits and relate these to listening ability. Does all
this affect listening ability?
Work It Out 5.4—Dealing with Interruptions
Interruptions are one of the most common reasons for communication to break down.
This box asks students to think about a situation in which they were talking to a
customer or someone else and another person arrived, interrupted, and started asking
questions or talking to them. They are asked to discuss the reaction of the first person
to whom they were talking, their reaction, and how they handled the situation.
Work It Out 5.5—Inattentive Listening Behavior
This box asks students to think of a time when someone was trying to verbally
communicate ideas to them and he or she realized (from their verbal and nonverbal
responses) that they were distracted and not really listening to him or her. They are
asked to discuss the reasons that prevented them from listening effectively and the
reactions the listener had to their distraction or lack of focus. The students are further
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asked to compare their answers with other students and use the collective responses to
improve their listening skills.
Work It Out 5.6—Correcting Common Listening Problems
This box lists some common listening problems. Students are asked to work in groups
and to think of one or two means for reducing or eliminating these problems. Then, ask
them to write their answers on a flipchart or on the whiteboard for class discussion. To
take the exercise a step further, you can even ask students to rank their ideas to
determine the most important aspects to good listening.
Work It Out 5.7—Active Listening Strategies
This box asks students to think about qualities of people who they believe to be good
listeners. What behaviors and techniques do they use? Ask students to discuss how
Chapter 05 – Listening to the Customer
End-of–Chapter Material Notes
Key Terms
• Attending (p. 169)
• Behavioral styles (p. 183)
• Biases (p. 173)
• Circadian rhythm (p. 175)
• Closed-end questions (p. 190)
• Comprehending or assigning meaning (p. 169)
• Congruence (p. 187)
• Customer needs (p. 188)
• Employee assistance programs (EAPs) (p. 176)
• External obstacles (p. 178)
• Faulty assumptions (p. 178)
• Hearing (p. 168)
• Information overload (p. 178)
• Lag time (p. 177)
• Listening (p. 166)
• Listening gap (p. 177)
• Memory (p. 169)
• Objections (p. 189)
• Open-end questions (p 188)
• Personal obstacles (p. 173)
• Psychological distracters (p. 174)
• Recognition (p. 169)
• Responding (p. 169)
• Service recovery (p. 186)
• Thought speed (p. 177)
Review Questions
1. What phases make up the active listening process?
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2. How does hearing differ from listening?
3. According to studies, what is the average rate of listening efficiency for most adults
in the United States? Why is this significant in a customer service environment?
4. List 14 characteristics of effective listeners.
5. What is an important reason for practicing good listening skills in a customer service
environment?
6. Of the characteristics common to good listeners, which do you consider the most
important in a customer service organization? Explain.
7. What obstacles to effective listening have you experienced, either as a customer
service professional or as a customer?
Chapter 05 – Listening to the Customer
8. How can you determine when someone is not listening to what you say?
9. What techniques or strategies can be used to improve your listening skills?
10. How is the outcome of a customer service encounter improved by using a variety of
questions?