This cashier pissed me off and my ego as a Nso man started rising like cold water…

Active listening impacts customer experience, quantity of sales and profitability

Few days back, I stopped at a supermarket, fast food segment to get some stuff as I rushed to the office for the evening grinding session.

I walked up to one of the staff who was busy having a casual conversation (not work related) with another staff. I said “Hello, good afternoon” and she did not answer and neither did she pay attention to me. Of course she did not hear me and she did not see me.

I said “Hello” again and she answered faintly and continued commenting on the conversation. Then she asked “What will you like to order?” and continued listening to her friend gisting.

As a cashier and receptionist, she is paid to pay attention to clients (me).

I already felt irritated, and my ego as a Nso man started rising like cold water garri produced in Mbokam (a village in Nso). I ordered fried plantains, chicken and clearly said 4 gizzards (The relationship between a Nso man and gizzards is heavenly). She did whatever she did, gave me the bill and I went to collect my food. When I got to the office, I noticed, the service girl gave me 1 gizzard instead of 4. Then I checked the receipt and the cashier actually inputed 1 gizzard instead of the 4 I requested.

It may sound small, but the #business lost 600FCFA ($1), plus an angry customer. Now, business is numbers not grammar. Let’s calculate in a day, she does this to over 25 clients. That is, 15000FCFA the business is losing, now imagine this happens just 10 days in a month that is 150 000frs the business is losing. Now imagine this happens 50 days in a year, that is 750 000FCFA the business is losing.

Apart from the financial cost, some customers may never return to buy because of the poor buying experience they got. Active listening and attention impacts customer experience, impacts the quantity of sales and business profitability.

Dear entrepreneurs and executives, your customer service staff will be far more successful and make more sales if they learn and practice the art of active listening. Active listening is especially critical in situations where customers are upset, frustrated and especially hungry.

Some key things in business when it comes to dealing with customers. Focus on what the customer is saying. Give the customer your full attention, and tune out distractions; definitely don’t multitask while talking to a customer. Occasionally repeat what the customer has said back to them, to confirm you have the correct information, and to demonstrate your attentiveness.

Now that I have given you free business training come and sow seed.

Cheers

Javnyuy Joybert
For more business articles, visit www.joybert.com
Mr Remarkable