Listen to your customers

A coaching session is not a monologue where we flaunt our knowledge, if there is no verbal exchange between the client and the coach, it is impossible for us to understand what their needs are and be able to meet them efficiently.

Unfortunately, many coaches assume the bad practice of not giving their clients the necessary space so that they can perform with honesty and convey their expectations and aspirations in the best possible way.

Learning to listen is one of the most valuable skills of any good communicator, so you should try to be attentive to what your client is saying if you want your sessions to have the best possible outcome. During the development of the following guide we will be addressing some of the most important elements regarding the need to listen to our clients.

Create space for your client to express him/herself freely.

When conducting a coaching session with your clients, you must create the right spaces for your client to express themselves freely. Regardless of the fact that the conversation may drift into banal topics at certain times, you must be skilled enough to be able to discern between information that has value and information that does not.

All great teachers and speakers attach great importance to the skill of listening, because when we want to transmit knowledge we must know to whom this knowledge is addressed. You can set up your coaching sessions as you see fit, but always leave space for the client to develop without pressure or guidance from you. This will be the client's opportunity to tell us anything he or she wants to tell us or ask questions that are troubling him or her.

Ask questions that encourage dialogue

Questions are an invaluable resource when communicating with our customers. The quality of the conversation will depend on the question we ask. If you want to make a natural dialogue flow, you can try asking questions that are not yes or no questions, but questions that lead to an in-depth explanation. During the client's explanation, you can participate in the exchange either by reinforcing his opinion or contradicting it with your point of view, the idea is to generate debate to deepen the client's real interests and appreciations.

Alleviate moments of tension

It is normal that a conversation does not flow in the best way at all times, it is logical that certain points of tension are generated that are induced when we touch on sensitive or complex issues for the client. If you are able to identify that the conversation is at a point of tension, the best thing to do is to try to dissuade it so that you can get back on track without losing the exchange and dialogue with the client.

To alleviate moments of tension, you can try changing the subject temporarily to a more trivial topic that does not require the client's active attention and above all allows him to relax for a while. After having relieved the tension for a few moments, try to introduce the topic gradually, evaluating the client's reactions at each moment. Keep in mind that your main objective is that the client should not be discouraged from participating in the exchange; you should appreciate a receptive attitude from him at all times.

If you feel it is best to postpone the session to ensure the quality of the conversation, do not hesitate to do so. It is better to waste some time than to spend it uselessly trying to help someone who is not ready to be helped.