Every business must focus on building customer rapport and relationships. No matter what the type of product or service you offer, whether your business is offline or online, it’s crucial to establish good customer rapport. If consumers feel that they are treated with empathy and respect, the positive feelings will translate into increased customer retention and satisfaction.
The question is, how can live chat agents build rapport with their base? How can they a convey warm, caring, and helpful attitude to the customers while relaying the information they need?
Here we have assembled a list of four actions to help in creating customer rapport that will create a positive relationship with customers.
Actions For Creating a Good Customer Rapport.
Start the Conversation with a Smile
A smile during face-to-face conversation creates a spark that lightens the heart and soothes the senses. Believe it or not, the smile can also be ‘heard’ over the phone and ‘sensed’ over online chat. As a live chat agent, monitor your tone on phone calls and when using a support chat plugin. When you beam a smile while talking, your voice and tone are more relaxing and welcoming. The customer will subconsciously appreciate your voice, which will help in building personal rapport and influencing the customer more easily.
Listen Attentively to the Caller
During conversations, you should avoid distractions and concentrate on the caller’s words. Listening attentively helps in responding to and addressing the concerns of the customers. Also, you should let the customer know that you are listening. Consider responding with soft sounds of encouragement and interest, such as ‘ah,’ ‘yes,’ ‘mmhmm,’ and so on. Avoid interrupting when the customers are speaking as it will make them frustrated.
Use Clear, Active Verbs
Consider the following two sentences:
“I will request the concerned personnel to resolve the issue within 48 hours.”
“The problem will be solved by the concerned personnel soon.”
Which phrase reflects that the customer agent is responsible and genuinely interested in resolving the issue? Obviously, the answer is the first sentence. The latter seems to lack any sense of responsibility or direction. Make sure that you use active verbs with specific actions when responding to an issue. This will help in building customer rapport and relationships and result in increased satisfaction.
Use Personal Pronouns
When conversing with customers face-to-face, over the phone, or in a support chat plugin, you should use personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘you’ as much as possible. Personal pronouns are, in effect, empathy statements. The customers will feel personally connected and interested when you address them in this manner. They will feel that you are sincere in your desire to address their concerns and solve their issues.
Building customer rapport and relationships is all about creating a bond or trust. This is true whether having a conversation with the customers online, over the phone, or in-person. Make sure that you empathize with the customers and make them feel valued. This is important as the efforts to build customer rapport will lead to improved customer satisfaction and increased sales.
