Becoming more interesting by showing more interest

Did you hear what I just said? SHEP HYKEN explains how active listening can improve your bottom line.

When I was a teenager, Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show. I found him to be more than entertaining. I found him to be interesting.

It didn’t take long for me to realise that what made him interesting was his genuine interest in his guests.

He not only asked great questions but also listened to his guests and seemed to always have the perfect comment that led to a better conversation, not just an interview with questions and answers.

I took this idea to heart – being interesting by showing more interest – when I was dating. I would ask lots of questions to get to know my date.

They did most of the talking, yet they still said I was a great conversationalist.

The same idea applies to business. If you want your customers to be interested in doing business with you, be interested in them.

Thinking about this idea, I put together a list of seven ways to show interest in your customers:

• Ask questions: Let the customer do most of the talking. Good questions lead to good answers.
• Listen to the answers: Actively listen to what your customer says. Take notes, if necessary and show you’re engaged. 
• Respond appropriately: If you want to elevate the conversation, don’t just listen to the answer; make a comment that shows you understand your customer’s answers.
• Ask extra questions: Sometimes, the most appropriate response isn’t a comment but an additional question – or two or three. The goal is to understand what the customer is saying. Sometimes, they say one thing and mean something different. Miscommunication can cause problems that make it hard to regain the customer’s confidence.  
• Make it personal: Don’t just ask questions about their business. Get to know them – at least a little bit – personally. 
• Make the customer feel exclusive: Some people have an amazing ability to make you feel like your most important customer.

You don’t have to go to that extreme; however, find things to say to connect the customer to you and your company. 

"Sometimes, the most appropriate response isn’t a comment but an additional question – or two or three."

Recap the conversation. Summarising the conversation lets the customer know you understand. I like to use the example of a server at a restaurant repeating the order just to ensure they didn’t misunderstand. 

The current host of The Tonight Show is Jimmy Fallon. Like Carson, Fallon is an exciting host because he is interested in hosting. In addition, he is a master at tip six, which makes the customer feel exclusive.

His enthusiasm can make guests feel like they are the most critical interviewees on the show. So, if you want customers to be more interested in you, your company, and your products, first be interested in them.

Applying these skills to issues

Recently, I had the privilege of being a keynote speaker on customer experience at a company’s quarterly event. Following the speech, the CEO shared an insight into their approach to customer service, comparing it to a medical emergency room. “Our response to customer complaints and issues is akin to triage."

Triage is an interesting word. It’s a medical term; however, I wanted to understand the definition better. This is the definition from Merriam-Webster:

• Sorting and allocating treatment to patients, especially battle and disaster victims, according to a system of priorities designed to maximise the number of survivors.
• The assigning of priority order to projects on the basis of where funds and other resources can be best used, are most needed, or most likely to achieve success.

The first definition confirmed that the CEO’s comment was accurate. They fix problems but don’t seem to prevent them. The second definition sounds like standard practice for most businesses, not just hospital emergency rooms. They prioritise projects — in this case, customer service issues — and focus on what will provide the best return.

I loved the comment because he recognised the goal wasn’t to deliver excellent customer service when there was a problem but to create an experience with few, if any, problems.

Put another way, it’s one thing to fix problems. It’s another to understand why there’s a problem and create a preventative solution or system that eliminates – or at least mitigates – the problem in the future. Yes, there will be customer service issues, but you can eliminate many problems and complaints with this line of thinking.

I like the idea of boring when it comes complaints. Nothing would make me happier than to see the depiction of a company’s customer service agents bored because customers seldom called with complaints. 

So, consider this question: Would you rather be the company known for solving problems when they happen or the company that doesn’t have issues?