How can one develop active listening skills?
• Active listening is the process of sending back to the prospect what you as a listener think the person meant, both in terms of content and in terms of feelings
• Requires intense involvement as you concentrate on what you are hearing, exhibit your listening attitude through nonverbal messages, and feed back to the prospect what you think he meant
• Involves focusing your full attention (involves use of verbal and nonverbal messages; listen to emotion involved in customer's comments; times when silence should be welcomed; plenty of time to let our minds roam, think ahead, and plan what we are going to say ahead; delivery of messages we hear is often much slower than our capacity to listen; avoid nodding rapidly or saying "uh huh" rapidly), paraphrasing the customer's meaning (state with a confirmation question to show you are listening and ensuring accuracy), and taking notes (demonstrate listening, increase memory of what heard, brief, ask for clarification)