{"id":493,"date":"2022-11-10T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/?p=493"},"modified":"2023-01-31T13:11:37","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T13:11:37","slug":"three-steps-to-build-rapport-in-a-customer-service-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/three-steps-to-build-rapport-in-a-customer-service-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Three steps to build rapport in a customer service environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Customer experience is an important aspect of any business and can give you that competitive edge in a crowded market, but how important is building rapport with your customers?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Research by HubSpot<\/span><\/a> has shown that 93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know people like to deal with people, so humanising your contact with customers, whether they are doing a simple transaction or making a complaint, can have a real impact on their impression of your organisation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When contemplating how to make a personal impact within a customer service environment, consider these three simple steps, which apply to face-to-face and contact centre environments:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Empathy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Building rapport to make sure you are on the same wavelength <\/span>[Building rapport through questioning and active listening<\/a>]<\/span> as your customer, is vital for a successful relationship.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using techniques such as active listening, asking questions, open body language and affirming verbal cues (especially important on the phone) to prompt conversation will help in customer-facing situations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ownership<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No-one likes to be passed from pillar to post and having to repeat themselves. Give your name and a direct way to contact you if you are the dedicated account manager, or alternative contact details if you won\u2019t be dealing with the issue. <\/span>According to research by Salesforce<\/span><\/a>, customers expect connected journeys, and 76% of customers expect consistent interactions across departments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using assertive language such as \u2018I will\u2019, rather than \u2018hopefully\u2019 \u2018perhaps\u2019 or \u2018maybe\u2019, will build confidence in you customer. Read our blog on how to make a great first impression to get more tips <\/span>[Making a good first impression \u2013 tips for building rapport<\/a>].<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Action<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do what you say you\u2019re going to do and get back to them when promised. If a customer asks you a question and you don\u2019t know the answer, don\u2019t blag! Say you\u2019ll go away and come back to them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s always best to under-promise and over-deliver, so it appears you\u2019ve gone over and above. Manage people\u2019s expectations. For example, if you know you\u2019ll get an answer by 12pm, say 2pm to the customer. That way, if you come back at midday, they will think you\u2019ve over delivered on your promise to them. But if you don\u2019t have the answer in time, make sure to get back in touch so the customer doesn\u2019t feel left in the dark. An update to say there\u2019s no update, is better than no update at all! It\u2019s a simple technique but will make you stand out.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cube Learning and Development<\/span><\/a> delivers tailor-made training and development programmes for your teams along with personal coaching to help with effective communication and presentation. For a no-obligation chat about this and our other training, call Chris Burton on 07879 602002.\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Customer experience is an important aspect of any business and can give you that competitive edge in a crowded market, but how important is building rapport with your customers?\u00a0\u00a0 Research by HubSpot has shown that 93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service.\u00a0 We know people like to deal with people, so humanising your contact with customers, whether they are doing a simple transaction or making a complaint, can have a real impact on their impression of your organisation.\u00a0\u00a0 When contemplating [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[155,146,145,148,154,147,149,151,157,152,150,156,129,153,130],"class_list":["post-493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customer-service-skills","tag-assertive","tag-competitive","tag-customer-experience","tag-customer-service","tag-customer-facing","tag-customers","tag-empathy","tag-environment","tag-expectations","tag-face-to-face","tag-humanising","tag-language","tag-rapport","tag-relationship","tag-wavelength"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":500,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cube-ld.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}