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.