What is your secret formula when it comes to establishing rapport with customers? (Consider how you might use both verbal and non-verbal communication processes.)
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- James in Bologna
- Bologna, Emilia-Romagna region, Italy
- Thanks for stopping by and reading the 'bo-log'. In January 2017, I upgraded my MCA (Master of Creative Arts) at the University of Technology Sydney to a PhD. The project, 'Masculinity on Trial', looks for Australian masculinities lost in the establishment of the Anzac hegemony during WW1. From March to July 2017, I am being hosted in Italy at the University of Bologna on an ErasmusPLUS doctoral research writing scholarship.
7 comments:
We constantly have to deal with the challenge of distance, with some of our larger accounts based off shore.
When we implemented an Australian account in February of last year, we did not have the luxury of meeting the travel bookers and providing them with the opportunity to know and understand us.
We therefore had to rely on email and newsletters, and conversation.
Early on we identified the most needy travellers, management and travel coordinators, some of whom had not wanted to make the change from their previous TMC. We built up a rapport and it continues to this day - I diarised 'courtesy calls' to our key contacts and continue regular calls to this day. Initally as often as once a week, now once a month to 6 weeks. I am constantly inviting feedback from our clients, it's vital to our performance, and good feedback is a great motivator when celebrated with our team.
Whilst the written email is an effective tool, I think verbal and face to face contact are also critical to creating a relationship with our customers, be they nextdoor or overseas.
cheers!
Building a good rapport with customers is vital in maintaining our building future relationships.
I like to feel I can pick up on verbal indicators from a client over the phone which allows me to alter my approach and relate to the customer.
Each client wants different service, some want a quick snappy turnaround and no room for small talk. Others want to have a chat, laugh and are quite difficult to get off the phone with.
Its about identifing who the customer is and what approach works best for them.
Dealing with Aussies mostly they are quite lay back and casual so they are all about the "hows it mate?" however as you work your way up the corporate chain it becomes more "Certainly Mr Smith how may I assist you?
I dont deal day to day with much non-verbal communication as it would make emails and phone calls rather difficult. I guess smiling at the other end of the phone and using empowered listening and correct tone are the more key non-verbal triggers I use.
Great feedback Margot and Nick. I can most definitely say that even with this Strive program, it has been difficult because you are all in NZ and I do not have the opportunity to meet you personally. I guess with distance been an issue here too, at least we have emails and bloggs!
As a corporate travel management company we live our work lives in a service industry, so our ability to establish (and maintain) rapport with our customers is vital to our day to day and ongoing success.
Margot and Nick have mentioned some good points above about what establishing rapport looks like in their environment and how important this is when not being in the same location as the customer.
As part of the Sales & Marketing team that focuses on looking for new customers I’m a true believer in first impressions count. This comes in both the verbal and non-verbal context. If I meet a new customer for the first time how I conduct myself and build rapport may to a large degree determine their interest/impression of APX.
Questioning and listening are the two keys around using ‘verbal’ communication to establish rapport. All customers (and people for that matter) want to feel important and be listened to, so ensuring we listen more than we talk allows the customer to get their point of view across, express their thoughts/feelings, and allows us to get inside their head and consider their view point, it can also lead to a topic of mutual interest which can help build rapport by sharing a common activity/interest.
Non-verbal can be through being engaged with the customer and only focusing on them (give them your full attention) and as appropriate using some of our non-verbal communication tools such as nodding, maintaining eye contact, not interuting, not thinking about a respone while they're talking, using the facial expressions to convey interest, and comments such as ‘ay-ha’ to show you’ve followed the conversation, are listening to them and waiting/wanting/knowing that more information will follow.
Sounds tricky, but perhaps thinking about from the ‘how would I like to be treated’ perspective, then building rapport can be a little easier to apply.
in the travel industry, i find that you are mainly dealing with people that you never meet face to face. Therefore your phone manner and the way we use email is very important.
to build a rapport with a customer, i find it is important to find out what their job is and what they are trying to achieve and to find out a bit about the person. This will help you communicate with them - either in the manner and the format that you use. And also, as Margot mention, regular contact always improves a relationship with a client.
Hey Guys, As you know I work in a customer-facing role (so no hiding behind phones or emails for me!!). Being a Client Relationship Manager, meeting and building rapports with clients is paramount in my role. As for a secret formula!! I think the best piece of advice I could give anyone is to listen (HUGE non-verbal skill).
This is something that has taken time for me to learn properly, but now I often attend meetings without a pen and paper and give the person(s) my full attention and digest what they are saying and then make notes when I left the meeting.
I'm naturally a smiley character and used in the right context, this can help in meetings and build rapport...I've even noticed it break down barriers!!
Off to my next meeting then to smile lots and LISTEN...(pardon!!)
BUILDING GREAT RAPPORTS WITH OUR CUSTOMERS IS A CRUCIAL PART OF OUR BUSINESS. WE HAVE A NUMBER OF CLIENTS WHERE WE HAVE BEEN MANAGING THEIR BUSINESS FOR OVER 20YEARS, WE DO NOT HAVE A CONTRACT WITH THESE CUSTOMERS BUT WE HAVE EXCELLENT RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THIS BUSINESS AT ALL LEVELS. WE HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR BUSINESS NEEDS AND WANTS. WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED OVER THE YEARS THAT THE SUCCESS OF RETAINING THESE CLIENTS IS THROUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR BUSINESS AND THE STRENGTH OF PARTNERSHIP. IT HAS NOT BEEN AS CRUCIAL TO MEET WITH THESE CLIENTS AS REGULARLY AS A NEW CLIENT BUT IN SAYING THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE MUST NEVER BE COMPLACENT ABOUT AS PEOPLE CHANGE WITHIN ANY BUSINESS.
I THINK WHERE WE HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL WITH ESTABLISHING GOOD CUSTOMER RAPPORTS IS WHERE WE HAVE LISTENED TO OUR CLIENTS NEEDS, SOMETIMES AS MARK MENTIONS WE NEED TO WORK ON OUR LISTENING SKILLS AND ALSO ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THEIR NEEDS. IT ALSO HELPS TO HAVE A POSITIVE, CAN DO, PROACTIVE ATTITUDE WHEN COMMUNICATING WITH OUR CLIENTS AND TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE.
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