The Listening Clinic (TLC)

Uncover opportunities, build trust, create richer customer relationships and improve the bottom line

– One day intensive for small groups –

Do you sometimes…

• Find that you aren’t able to focus fully on what others are saying to you?
• Feel like you’re missing the deeper meaning behind the words in conversations?
• Become frustrated with the quality of attention you receive from others?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it is not a surprise. Listening is the most utilized, but least studied and mastered communication skill. It is essential to understanding colleagues, customers and/or patients. It is crucial to accurately assessing their needs; developing comprehensive solutions; building trust; gaining agreement and working effectively as a team.

The Listening Clinic is applicable to any situation where listening is crucial to the success of the participants’ interactions. It is an excellent adjunct to traditional sales training because it focuses on skills that are critical to sales, but generally not practiced in-depth in most programs. It is also highly relevant to both emerging and veteran leaders. Attendees will more fully understand the proven relationship between listening, increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and profitability.

In this fast-paced program, participants role play internal or external customer meeting scenarios in which they have the opportunity to identify and practice effective listening skills. Customized scenarios focus on challenging situations that attendees typically encounter in face-to-face or over-the-phone meetings. They are video recorded, and receive feedback and coaching from instructors and their peers.

The Listening Clinic participants learn how to:

• Understand the listening process in the context of facilitating effective internal and external customer interactions
• Master active listening skills in order to identify what is going on in the customer’s world (to “walk in the customer’s shoes”)
• Discern the deeper meaning behind the customer’s verbal and non-verbal communication
• Listen beyond the words to uncover and better support broader customer needs
• Increase their empathy quotient and understand the proven relationship between empathy and the “bottom line”
• Activate their “internal coach” in order to improve listening while in the process of interacting with customers

“Joan is extremely informative and experienced.” – Tom Gandolfo, Children First, Sarasota, Florida