There are a lot of skills needed to provide a great customer experience: communication skills, empathy and so on. It also goes without saying that good listening skills can help provide excellent customer service. After all, you will need to be able to figure out the customer’s problem, ask appropriate questions, and troubleshoot the problem—all of these require good listening skills. Here are some tips to help develop good listening skills.

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First, you must give your undivided attention to the customer, and listen intently. No pretending to listen here—you must actually listen. Be sure to make eye contact, as this lets the customer know you are actually listening. Once the customer is done discussing the issue with you, ask any appropriate questions you might need to help clarify the problem, as sometimes information may get garbled, or left out all together.

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Once you are done asking questions, and have a clear idea of the problem, summarize the problem, as this gives you one more chance to make sure you understand it. It also lets the customer know you were genuinely listening. Then, as always, thank the customer for bringing the matter to your attention, and then work to solve the problem.