What Did You Say?

No offense to the late, master entrepreneur Ray Croc, but the odds of somebody spotting me in the drive through of a golden arches location are mighty slim. However, on one particular day recently, my wife had a hankering for their breakfast specialty. When we got to the first checkpoint where you place your order, I asked for two Egg McMuffins. We were instructed to drive around to pay for our order which came to I believe $5.05. When we got to the window, the cashier said she had two bacon egg and cheese sandwiches for us. My wife corrected her and said, “No, it was supposed to be two Egg McMuffins.”

You could tell that the cashier was very annoyed. She called to her staff to correct the order and then she turned back to us to say, “I’m sorry. They need to listen better.” In the meantime, I attempted to pay for our meal with a $10 bill while my wife rifled through her purse for the change. I said that we have the change. Meanwhile, after I handed the $10 bill to the cashier, she immediately opened her door to give me back the change for the 10. It took a few tries before we got her attention, but she finally stopped picking up coins and singles and realized we had the exact change for her.

The point is, all of us could be better listeners if we just took the time to do so. Is this true in your business? How well are you really paying attention to what your customers are saying? In case you are unfamiliar with the practice of active listening, it’s simple to do and quite effective. All it requires is for you to make notes — preferably written — and summarize what your customer has just told you in your own words to make sure that what you heard is what they meant.

Almost without exception, our Friday night meal is a medium-sized pizza, half with extra cheese and the other half with double mushrooms. Invariably, depending upon who is working the phones that night, the order taker will repeat back the order as a medium-sized pizza, half with extra cheese and half with extra mushrooms. It’s not the same thing. Although the difference in the actual number of mushrooms is negligent, as a coach, it’s just another opportunity to demonstrate if somebody is really paying attention to what a customer is saying.

It doesn’t matter if you sell Egg McMuffins, pizza, websites, or tires - customers all want their orders done properly. The only way this happens is when you invest in the needed amount of time, discipline, and attention to make sure you understand what they’re expecting from you. The good news is, the better you get listening to your customers and delivering what they want, the greater you will distance yourself from your competition.

“The difference between hearing and listening is paying attention.” – Ruth Messinger

Let me hear from you.

This excerpt is taken from the seminar entitled The Fine Art of Listening. I encourage you to click here to register for the exclusive live Zoom presentation of The Fine Art of Listening on Thursday, July 27, 2023 from 9 AM to 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.