Customer Service: Chapter 5

hearing

A passive physiological process of gathering sound waves and transmitting them to the brain for analysis. It is the first phase of the listening process.

recognition

A process that occurs in thinking when a previously experienced pattern, event, process, image, or object that is stored in memory is encountered again.

listening

An active, learned process consisting of four phases: receiving/hearing the message, attending, comprehending/assigning meaning, and responding.

biases

Beliefs or opinions that a person has about an individual or group. Often based on unreasonable distortions or prejudice.

employee assistance program (EAP)

Benefit package offered to employees by many organizations that provides services to help employees deal with personal issues that might adversely affect their work performance (e.g., legal, financial, behavioral, family, and mental health counseling services).

external obstacles

Factors outside an organization or the sphere of one's influence that can cause challenges in delivering service.

objections

Reasons given by customers for not wanting to purchase a product or service during an interaction with a salesperson or service provider (e.g., "I don't need one," "I can't afford it," or "I already have one").

information overload

Refers to having too many messages coming together and causing confusion, frustration, or an inability to act.

psychological distracters

Refers to mental factors that can cause a shift in focus in interacting with others. Examples are state of health and personal issues.

responding

Refers to sending back verbal and nonverbal messages to a message originator.

faulty assumptions

Service provider projections made about underlying customer message meanings based on past experiences.

memory

The ability to gain, store, retain, and recall information in the brain for later application

open-end questions

Typically start with words like who, when, what, how, and why and are used to engage others in conversation or to gain input and ideas.

congruence

In communication, this relates to ensuring that verbal messages sent match or are in agreement with the nonverbal cues used.

personal obstacles

Individual factors that can limit performance or success in life. Examples are disabilities, lack of education, attitude, and biases.

closed-end questions

Inquiries that typically start with a verb; solicit short, one-syllable answers; and can be used for such purposes as clarifying, verifying information already given, controlling conversation, or affirming something.

customer needs

Motivators or drivers that cause customers to seek out specific types of products or services.

listening gap

The difference in the speed at which the brain can comprehend communication and the speed at which the average adult speaks in the United States.

attending

The phase of the listening process in which a listener focuses attention on a specific sound or message being received from the environment.

comprehending or assigning meaning

The phase of the listening process in which the brain attempts to match a received sound or message with other information stored in the brain in order to recognize or extract meaning from it.

circadian rhythm

The physiological 24-hour cycle associated with the Earth's rotation that affects metabolic and sleep patterns in humans as day replaces night.

thought speed

The rate at which the human brain processes information.

lag time

The term applied to the difference in the rate at which the human brain can receive and process information and at which most adults speak.