Of all of the important life skills and independent contracting skills that can be achieved, listening effectively is the most valuable. We know what you’re thinking — listening? Aren’t there more important things that affect your revenue and ROI?
Listening can drive the most amazing and rewarding results with both clients and coworkers inside HVAC, plumbing and electrical residential contracting companies. Listening allows us to absorb, observe and learn so we can better communicate and relate with others.
As a manager or leader on your team, it’s essential that you both practice excellent listening skills AND encourage your team to grow their own. Here are some of the awesome effects that can result when we learn the value of active listening, courtesy of Service Excellence.
Listening During Client Interactions
The most important aspect of company-client interaction is effective communication. Learning to effectively communicate first starts with the listening skills of a CSR, technician, manager or owner during their interaction with a client or potential client.
If we learn to open our ears before we open our mouths, we will find ourselves in fewer miscommunication mishaps. One reason effective listening leads to less trouble is that listening leads to posing keen questions that work to clarify interaction so communication can happen more easily.
When your team members are working to attain a client, it’s so important that they embrace the realization that listening to the client will get them a lot closer to a final close than speaking at or over the client.
This is true because listening allows a team member to see the areas that would most interest the client based on the direction of the conversation. This also means effectively listening to body language and nonverbal communication during communication such as eye contact and tone of voice.
Active listening can help your team members find areas of concern, avoid unhappy clients and establish customer loyalty.
Coworker Interactions — Why Listening Matters
Simply put, managers who listen will earn the respect, loyalty and trust of their team. It’s important that managers, owners and leaders learn to hear what team members are saying and allow that information to shape their decisions — for the betterment of the team and company.
Team members notice when their leaders take what they have to say seriously. Leaders who work to embrace this genuine communication skill through listening learn to keep their coworkers’ needs in the forefront of their minds so communication can happen more naturally and effectively.
Great leaders don’t simply listen — they pay attention to, remember and retain important information from their team. Listening and retaining in this important manner helps managers learn flexibility and the importance of making significant decisions that fit the needs of the team.
Effectively listening to coworkers doesn’t mean that leaders should doubt their ability to make hard choices. Rather, it helps leaders consider all sides of a matter. There could be nothing more appealing to a team of confident and knowledgeable employees than a leader who knows how to effectively listen.
Try These Steps To Start Listening More Effectively!
- Repeat people’s last few words back to them.
- Pay attention to your own and the speaker’s nonverbal cues.
- Minimize distractions as much as possible.
- Don’t rehearse your response while the other person is talking.
- Monitor your emotions and reactions.
Put Your Listening Skills To Practice
Listening skills make communication happen, and it must occur effectively while interacting with clients as well as with coworkers. If you’re interested in learning more or want to practice your listening skills, sign up for one of our HVAC coaching programs. Here at Service Excellence, we IGNITE THE POWER WITHIN!
