Start with being interested

Telephone call handlers are handling thousands of calls from customers at this very moment. 99% of them are boring.

We have sales people telling customers everything they know about their products. We have customers trying to have their needs understood. We have very little real communication.

What if you started with being interested?

What if you were keen to learn about your customers’ needs and asked them more questions? What if you were interested in providing the right solution only when you knew it fit the customers needs? What if your conversations were opportunities for transformation, not simply transactions?

We rarely ponder the more interesting option, because being boring is easier. Being boring is safer.

It’s safer to launch into a pre-approved, one-message-fits-all speech than it is to stop, ask questions, and attempt to understand a person’s needs. It’s easier to just tell people what you think they want to hear, than it is to listen for what they most want and need. It’s easier to stay distanced and keep up a “professional” demeanor than it is to be authentic and genuine.

We choose boring over interesting, and wonder why we look at the week’s worth ahead of us with dread, pining for the weekend just past while hopefully anticipating the weekend to come.

Being interested will make your weekdays feel like weekends. Try it and see.