At the beginning of a customer service interaction (especially over the phone or in person), use the following methods to uncover a customers needs:

Use active listening to encourage the customer to share

Set aside any distractions (like instant messenger, or your afternoon snack) to focus on the customer. Let them talk, don’t interrupt, and demonstrate that you’re listening by nodding your head or saying,"Go on," and "Okay."

Seek out the personal impact on the customer

Your customer isn’t just coming to you because they need help choosing a product, or because their software isn’t working. They are coming to you because they have a personal need you can help them with. Listen to your customer, and ask questions until they reveal how this issue is impacting them personally.

Summarize, then validate your customer’s needs

Repeat the customer’s need back to them. This lets them know that you were listening, and that you’re on the same team as they are. They can also confirm that you’re right.

Let’s see this process in action. Say you work in retail, and a customer comes to you asking if you have any suits. The conversation might go something like this:

To recap:

Use active listening to encourage the customer to share

Seek out the personal impacton the customer

Summarize, then validate your customer’s needs

The correct answer is C:“So what I’m hearing is that this problem has cost you a lot of time, is that right?”

The customer has already told Regine the personal effect of this (she wasted time). Now Regine should summarize and validate the customer’s need.

Practice it yourself:

The next time you talk to someone who has a complaint or a problem (like a coworker who is blowing off steam), try using active listening cues to let them know they're being heard.