When it comes to customer support services, the art of rapport building is probably the most important. You can be master of your domain; however, if you lack the necessary interpersonal skills, you will find it hard to create a bond with your customers. Although, the primary objective of customer support service is to resolve queries, creating a rapport with your customer can go a long way in enhancing the overall customer experience.
Customer service is the face of any company’s operations. As every company wants to grow, they require customer service experts who can help them create new customers. There is no better way of creating a new customer than by doing your utmost best to make the customers you already have happy. Each customer you make happy will bring in new customers and facilitate the overall growth of the company. This is why rapport building is taught as part of the training programs carried out by call centers across the globe.
Creation of rapport becomes even more important while providing customer support outsourcing services. When a customer knows that he is not talking to someone who is part of the organization, it is harder to gain his trust. Below are a few tips that can be implemented in day-to-day interactions for building rapport with customers:
- Be Transparent While Communicating with Customers
Customers hate it when a representative does not tell them the whole truth. If you are not transparent in your discourse and provide customer support services with incorrect factual information, you will lose their trust in no time. By being transparent from the beginning of the call and providing all the relevant details correctly, you will instantly gain the trust of your customers.
Trust is like a stepping stone towards building rapport. Once you have your customer’s trust, he will listen to you attentively and respond to your instructions wholeheartedly. This will make it easier for you to interact with the customer and resolve the case.
- Be Consistent Throughout the Call
Customers do not like it when customer care representatives show their interest only when it suits them. Always maintain a consistency in the call flow and be present for the customer at all times. Do not put them on long holds and avoid muting the call at any cost (unless it is an absolute necessity). You do not have to respond to every dialogue with complete sentences. If customer is venting out or telling his own side of the story, simply provide timely verbal nods to make him understand that you are listening to him. Once the customer starts believing that you are there for him, he will begin trusting you and it will become a whole lot easier for you to build rapport.
- Be a Real Person Not a Machine
A customer calls the support number to talk to a human. After getting through IVR menus, the last thing he wants is a customer care representative who responds like a machine. Start your call warmly and make him believe that you are a real living person who actually cares about the issue. If possible, add a personal touch in your interactions and show the necessary empathy to build a rapport with the customer.
- Be Judicious in Rapport Building
Sometimes, representatives who provide customer support outsourcing services may go overboard and use all their time in building rapport and not addressing the issue at hand. This approach may help you build an affinity with the customer in the beginning; however, if the issue is not resolved or a lot of time is wasted, you will ultimately lose the trust of the customer. This is why, the ones providing customer support services should use their time on call judiciously and complement rapport building with steps towards the resolution of the problem.