Building Rapport

Building rapport with your customer is more than just a casual ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ every time you see them. It’s okay to ask them how they are doing, but really listen to the answer. Are they doing okay? Just okay? What’s going on? How can I help? Ask open-ended questions to see if there is anything you can do for them. Maybe you know someone on the city counsel who can help them remove a tree that has been blocking their view of oncoming traffic and it’s been bothering this client for months now and this morning, he or she almost had an accident. There are countless ways to help someone out, especially someone who maybe buying your product or service and believe me, they will appreciate any help, even if it’s just the effort and they don’t get the outcome they are looking for, at least you tried.

Listening is a great skill to add to your repertory of skill sets. Talk less and listen more – at the appropriate times. Ask if you can take notes, when discussing the customers wants and needs regarding your services or products. At meetings, people take notes when something is important and they want to remember. This is true of an informal or formal meeting with a prospective client. You need to be professional and take notes so they know you are serious about their business.

Check your understanding against theirs. Make sure they didn’t think you said one thing when you actually said something else. Say something like, “Just to make sure we are on the same page. You are concerned about [fill in the blank]?” this way no one is going to expect X and be delivered Y instead and no one looks bad for wrongly communicating or not listening or taking notes properly. So always listen and always repeat back to the client what it is they said. There will be more on that later, but it’s pretty simple and straightforward.

5 Steps To Building A Relationship With Your Customers:

1. Listen more than you talk. Really listen to what the customer is saying, asking for, complaining about, or wanting.
   
   
2. Recognize that the customer as a person, not just a client. If their child did something and it’s in the newspaper, send them an extra copy with a note; always send thank you notes, and maybe give them something extra with their purchase as a thank you for buying from you.
   
   
3. For your top customers, offer them preferential treatment, give them a loyalty bonus or discount. Ask their advice on something about your business as sort of an ‘advisory counsel’. They will appreciate you asking for their input on your business. Frame it in such a way as to compare what they do to what you are doing. Everyone enjoys being asked his or her opinion.   
   
   
4. Offer them business-building ideas. When you help another business grow, a business that purchases from you, you are part of their profit stream and therefore, everyone wins. This is a value-added approach and tells the client you are genuinely interested in their company’s success and its growth.
   
   
5. Be proactive. This means never having to say you’re sorry. Anticipate and act in advance of any foreseeable problems and nip them in the bud. The customer may never know you fixed a problem and that’s a good thing!

Professional Sales Training <-- Super Smart Sales Tricks!

“Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it.”              William James