Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

In the book How to Talk to Customers, there’s a chapter that’s dedicated to teaching us how to develop listening skills.  We learn that there are four levels of listening:
 

• Level One - you simply pay attention to facts and details

• Level Two - in this type of transaction you ask more questions to gain clarification and build a little rapport with the customer

• Level Three - this is where empathy plays a part in the dialogue and you become a nonjudgmental listener

• Level Four - the deepest level of listening wherein you don’t do much talking;  a great deal of patience is involved in this type of listening.

Where do you fall in this listening paradigm?  For me, I think I incorporate a combination of all four levels at the same time.  I think it’s important to pay attention to facts and details that are relevant to the situation, at the same time asking more questions in order to know more about a customer needs.  Then you have empathy which is critical in any communication, combined with intensive patience and a connection with what the person is saying.