- Hear them
- Listen to yourself
- Playback the meaning
- Deal with the next steps
No fancy acronym I’m afraid but a useful four-step process.
Hear them. Clear your mind, prevent your thinking, and take in everything they’re telling you. Turn on your state of appreciation to make sure they know you’re hearing them.
Listen to yourself. That inner voice, demon. Your emotions and feelings will prevent you from hearing them. Turn them off. Use CBT – cognitive behavioural coaching – to rid them, they’re not helping you right now.
Playback. In their own words, what they just told you. Playing back is the greatest compliment you can give anyone. Try playing back what you sensed as opposed to heard. Here you might throw in some clarification questions but these normally just get in the way. A solid summary is enough to keep the customer talking.
Deal. Handle the next steps. “What’s our next steps?” “Where do we go from here?” “Let’s agree out next action?”
