Stay a While, and Listen!

When I first started as a technician I worked for a decent sized company that for some reason didn't have a department for my position and so no real supervisor. Instead I reported directly to the owner of the company, a man who in every way was an aging middle-age man, balding and down to earth with Midwestern values and a kind smile.
Never mind the earring he wore when off duty and the tattoos of dragons on his legs and such.
He had many gems of knowledge for me over the years. One of the best ones was about how to be better at helping people.
"First you have to ask "how can I heal your pain" and then you have to set, and you have to be quiet, and it's going to be hard but you have to listen."
This has been one of the truest things I've ever learned in my life. It doesn't really matter how good a technician you are. It doesn't matter if you are so good you can wave your hand and fix it all. If you don't make the customer fill listened to, then they walk away filling like you didn't get "it" and didn't fix anything. You have to ask, you have to wait, and its gonna be hard, but you have to listen.