Active listening
Active listening is where an effort is made to try to understand the whole message being sent. In
order to do this, attention must be paid to the other person very carefully.
Retailers use this skill to:
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Listen to customers determine customer buying motives and requirements.
Listening to other team members.
Follow routine instructions
Negotiate
Convey a positive impression to encourage customer interest
Answer routine customer questions about merchandise accurately
Communicate with difficult customers
The following pages contain information and activities to assist entry level team members to
improve their skills in understanding and interpreting customer motivations and requirements.
The contents include the following:
How might this apply to your retail business?
Case Study
Michelle has been working in a sales role on the floor of a furniture and homewares store for
the past six months. Her attendance and punctuality are impeccable, however, you notice
that despite having good rapport with customers, she is unable to close sales with the speed
and regularity expected in your store. In observing her sales techniques in the store, you
believe that she is failing to “pick-up” verbal cues from customers, which indicate that they
are ready to close the sale. You need some ideas and strategies that will assist be more
mindful of these cues when listening to customers.
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Strategies: Tips and ideas to improve active listening in your workplace.
Activities: Exercises and games that can be embedded in workplace training to improve
active listening in your business.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2015. This teaching resource has been produced by the National Retail Association with the assistance
of funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training.
Five strategies to improve active listening skills
1. Pay attention by…
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Looking at the speaker directly.
Try to not be distracted by other things going on around you.
Don’t get into other conversations while the speaker is talking.
2. Show that you are listening by…
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Facing the person speaking and nodding every now and then.
Making eye contact, smiling and using other facial expressions.
Encouraging the speaker to keep going by making comments like “yes” or nodding.
3. Give comments and positive responses to the speaker
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Saying back to the speaker what you have heard in your own words, or paraphrasing. For
instance, “What I’m hearing is …” or “It sounds like…” Change words that have been said into
your own words to show an understanding.
Asking questions to clarify what has been said. For instance, “What do you mean when you
say…” or “Is what you mean …?”
4. Don’t interrupt
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Allow the speaker to finish.
Listen to the full story first.
5. Try repeating the speaker’s words mentally
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Repeat in your head key words that the speaker says.
This helps to reinforce their message and helps you focus.
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© Commonwealth of Australia 2015. This teaching resource has been produced by the National Retail Association with the assistance
of funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training.
Activities
The “Active Listening Discussion”
This energiser will help to improve communication skills and confidence in learners when
speaking to a group. Divide your group into pairs and let each pair have one listener and one
speaker.
1. The speaker then describes a situation, such as the best shopping experience they have had
and why. Or they could describe the worst shopping experience they have had and why.
2. The listener then needs to paraphrase back to the group what the message was and the
reasons.
The “Were You Listening” quiz?
This quiz will help learners to develop focussing and attention skills for listening. Follow these
four steps.
1. The trainer asks each participant a few questions about themselves or what they like.
Questions may include, “Describe yourself”, or “What do you do in your spare time?” or “What
is your favourite shop and why?”
2. The trainer makes a note of one particular answer for each participant.
3. All members have a turn, and other participants listen.
4. At the end, using this information, the trainer gives a spot quiz. If there are fifteen people in
the class, the trainer will ask fifteen questions. The trainer calls out the answers and sees
who got the most correct.
Listen carefully
The “Listen carefully” activity calls for careful listening to understand and for your learners to
point out the changes made from the original passage.
Divide the learners into two teams, A and B. Choose a short passage from the content you are
covering that day.
 Read this out loud.
 Read it a second time, but change the content.
 Teams need to point out the changes. They get a point for each change they get.
 Continue with a second passage, and so on.
 At the end, the team with the most points wins.
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© Commonwealth of Australia 2015. This teaching resource has been produced by the National Retail Association with the assistance
of funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training.