The Key Role of Listening in Business: A Study of the Singapore Insurance Industry

Abstract

We tend to regard listening as a passive, automatic process that just happens rather than as a skill that is essential for good communication. Yet in reality effective lis tening is a skill that needs to be developed as a prerequisite for successful practice of the more 'active' skills of speaking and writing. The insurance industry is a prime example of an industry that relies heavily on good listening skills for effective marketing. We conducted a study in Singapore of how listening is perceived by people involved in insurance. We found that more experienced people were well aware of its key role although students majoring in insurance believed speaking was more important. This study confirms earlier research: in the insurance indus try in Singapore there is a gap between the perceived need for good listening and the degree to which good listening skills are perceived to be possessed by insurance agents.