In our last post we talked about Dave Lupberger’s 8 attributes homeowners most desire in their service provider, which were:
- Good listening skills
- Good communication skills
- A positive, non-adversarial attitude
- The demonstration of understanding and patience
- A relationship-oriented approach
- Honesty and integrity
- Personal responsibility
- Fair price
In the weeks to come I want to discuss each of these eight attributes in more detail. Today let’s look at the importance of good listening skills in dealing with homeowners.
Good listening is obviously a vast topic and excellent books have been written on the subject. I will be briefer than that here. I think there are at least two main areas where good listening can be valuable in dealing with homeowners. The first of course is in winning the homeowners business. All thorough sales training courses include a good deal of work on increasing listening skills. Sales people that listen get the sales. The second area where listening skills is key is in making sure the homeowner is a satisfied customer that will refer their friends and family. In order to do this we want to be engaged in empathetic listening. As the book “Listening the Forgotten Skill” explains, this level of listening involves being aware and in the present moment, acknowledging and responding; not letting ones self be distracted; paying attention to the speakers total communication, including body language; being empathetic to the speakers feelings. It also requires that the listener show the speaker both verbally and non-verbally that they are truly listening.
All of this is admittedly easier said than done but we need to be aware that when a homeowner has a question or concern it is very important to them (and their level of satisfaction) that they know they were heard. Acknowledgment is a basic human need. In today’s world a great deal of communication occurs via phone, email, or some other form of non-face to face communication. This means that the non-verbal cues we might give to show we are listening are not available. A technique that is always available is to rephrase back to the other party what we understand them to have communicated and give them the opportunity to confirm that we understand them correctly. This is a simple practical way to show a homeowner that you care enough to make the effort to understand them. In the long run it will save time. We will avoid the frustrations of going back to correct mistakes or clear up miscommunications. This should decrease stress in a relationship and increase satisfaction and the likelihood of referrals.
Mitch Anderson is currently a training manager at ServiceMagic. In former lives he worked in the construction trades (as a laborer, hanging and finishing drywall, framing, painting, roofing and HVAC) and practiced law for 15 years. He has been married to his high school sweetheart Judy since 1978 and they have three children – Josh, Zach and Jessica.
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