How Listening Behaviours Affect Customer Satisfaction

Shauna Geraghty at Talkdesk looks at how call centre listening behaviours affect customer satisfaction.

In the call centre industry, the agent is the voice of the company. However, it is not what they say but what they don’t say to the customer that might have the greatest impact on their level of satisfaction.

Effective listening behaviours in call centres:

1. Allow a caller to feel acknowledged, accepted and understood
2. Encourage the caller to be more open and forthcoming with information
3. Promote cooperation between the agent and caller
4. Help to build stronger relationships
5. Lead to learning about the customers opinions, desires and needs
6. Reduce confusion and misunderstandings

All of these will increase service quality and are important in maintaining effective, personal relationships with customers. They can drastically change how your agents interact with your customers and how your customers view your company.

Understanding how listening behaviour affects a customer’s level of satisfaction with the service they received during their call centre interaction is critical. A recent study conducted by researchers from Pennsylvania State University examined the impact of three types of agent listening behaviours on call centre satisfaction:

1. Attentiveness

• Has a concern for accuracy and quality of the call
• Concentrates on the customer’s words, intents, feelings and needs during the call
• Is detail-focused
• Is dependable and responsible

2. Responsiveness

• Answers the customer accurately
• Readily reacts to suggestions
• Asks clarifying questions when appropriate

3. Perceptiveness

• Understands the customer’s needs
• Accurately summarizes the needs of the caller
• Checks with the customer to ensure that they accurately understood them

They found that the relationship between call centre satisfaction and the three dimensions of listening behaviours was positively and statistically significant. This suggests that agents who engage in all three listening behaviours will increase customer satisfaction.

Call centre managers should ensure that their team is properly trained, monitored and motivated to engage in effective listening behaviours. This will result in a more effective workforce that will in turn increase customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and brand awareness.