What is customer rapport?

This is about understanding and connecting with your customers, especially those who may be difficult.

Building rapport is what helps customers know that the organisation they are doing business with cares and values them as more than just customers. Find out their needs, build a sense of trust, and eventually this creates a great customer relationship. It’s like making a new friend. You need to get to know them. Ask and understand their interests for a better customer experience.

Importance of customer rapport

By building rapport, and listening to feedback, you gain more understanding and knowledge of your customers needs and preferences. This also helps you identify pain points, and tailor fit through your approach to better meet their standards and expectations. Which in result can help you stand out from your competitors and make your business a trusted partner than just any regular vendor. It can lead to repeat business and referrals. Because customers feel understood and valued, which can create a reliable and loyal customer base and help a company grow over time. At the end of the day, this can help reduce the tension and stress when enter interacting with customers and help create a better workplace. 

How employees benefit from building rapport?

1. Better understanding of customer’s needs.

By taking time to build rapport with customers, you get to know more about their preferences and indifference. This makes you approach to these customers in a better way and improve their overall experience.

2. Enhances problem solving skills.

Once you’ve built that reliable relationship with your customers, you can learn to be more efficient at resolving any issues that may have by applying what you know about their business. And what works best for that customer. This makes you better at your job and enhances your skills and problem solving.

3. Career opportunities use this to your advantage. 

This is a valuable skill for any employee, no matter what role when you’ve mastered rapport, this opens up career growth opportunities and creates a positive reputation at the workplace.

4. Increase confidence. 

Of course, being able to successfully connect with customers can be hard and intimidating at times. But when employees develop this skill and gain more experience, they can become confident in their abilities and assist customers better. 

5. Improved communication skills.

In any interaction, being able to communicate well as important in this, you need the ability to effectively ask questions, listen, actively, show empathy and have a strong communication skills. Practicing these skills regularly can improve your way of conveying messages and information to customers or even co-workers. 

Building rapport leads to some very important outcomes. Like people talk to people they like. People share information with people they like. People buy from people they like. People feel loyalty to people they like. And people introduce people they like.

Simple yet effective ways to build rapport.

1. Ask open ended questions.

 What successfully employee usually do when they come across a potential customer? They tend to break the ice by asking questions that have nothing to do with their business. It could be where they are located. Careers, favourite books or movies and other interesting things. This is just basic small talk. And once you’ve made your first move, you use that to slide into important questions about what they’re looking for in your business. 

2. Be polite.

This is pretty basic but when employees have the right manners, it creates a great impression to their customers. Who would want a rude stuff right? We grew up being taught that using please and thank you can make a big difference on how people see you as a person. Use that to your advantage. 

3. Try to see things from their point of view.

Obviously, this goes together with showing and having empathy for people. When you build rapport, try to imagine being in their situation. How would it feel how would you want to be helped with their poor you can find out if they have a bad day or not just by asking how their day has been. This is where you can show that you are genuinely there to assist them and not just make a sale. 

4. Think about your voice.

Vocal tone is everything. This usually the first step of communicating to people effectively when your tone sounds bored, flat or dull. This usually says that you are not interested in your job and dealing with customers. This makes customers feel like your business is not just an investment just by judging how you approach them. Make sure to warm up your voice before taking calls or meeting with customers. If you can try to listen to speakers during seminars, or even TED Talks and copy how they deliver their point, how to control your speaking volume and emphasise certain words to help you develop an effective skill. 

5. Be focused. 

Be focused when engaging to customers when they are trying to explain their concerns. Don’t let your mind wander off well it is known for humans who have an average attention span of 8.2 seconds. It is never a good idea to not pay attention to your customers, because they might feel like you’re not willing to listen and resolve their problems. 

6. Respect their time. 

Time is the most valuable to most people, and they want things done in a much faster way because they hate waiting or have to be somewhere else. This does not necessarily mean they can abuse and take advantage of work stuff. Be sure that you respect their time by answering their questions or provide solutions effectively.

Know that with proper training, guidance and experience, you can develop a strong and meaningful relationship with not just your customers, but also possibly with your co-workers.  There are many benefits when it comes to building rapport. But in the line of business, it is most important when you want to make sales and boost your company’s success.