Myra Golden's Three Tips for Building Instant Rapport with Customers

Building rapport and demonstrating empathy are fundamental skills that set exceptional customer service representatives apart. Let me help you rock the customer experience by giving your employees the exact skillset they need to make personal, emotional connections with customers.

When you focus on my three key areas for rapport, you'll deliver a refreshing, warm, friendly connection with customers. Ready? Go!

First, Acknowledge Your Customer's Concern

Acknowledging customers' concerns and genuine empathy lays the foundation for a strong and lasting connection. Active listening and displaying empathy are not just buzzwords but essential elements that make customers feel respected, validated, and understood. Some of my favorite phrases for acknowledging customer concerns are:

"I realize this whole thing has been frustrating for you."

"I can see your point on that."

"We want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."

"I'm sorry you had a poor experience with us."

Next, I want you to practice Yielding to Customers.

Yield to customers from Building Rapport with Customers by Myra Golden

My technique of yielding to customers is a game-changer in fostering trust and connection. By allowing customers to take the lead in the conversation, representatives convey a deep respect for the customer's thoughts and concerns. This approach nurtures a feeling of empowerment in the customer and establishes a level of trust that is indispensable in any customer interaction.

Yielding is super easy, and you do it in two steps:

First, always allow your customer to finish sentences. Even if you know exactly what the customer needs before they finish their sentence, let them finish before you say anything. When you know within a second or two that the call needs to be transferred, you must let your customer finish what they're saying. When you do, you ensure you don't come off rude or in a hurry.

Second, If you accidentally interrupt a customer, apologize. 

You're bound to mess up now and then and interrupt a customer. I teach this stuff, and it still happens to me. It's okay. Just apologize. - "I'm sorry. You go ahead." The apology will make up for any misstep you might have made.

Remember, over-talking and interrupting leaves customers feeling frustrated and disconnected. Instead, slow down and practice yielding to make customers feel heard, respected, and understood. 

Third. Always speak in complete sentences:

Speak in complete sentences with customers from Building Rapport with Customers by Myra Golden

Have you ever talked with a customer service person that went something like this?

The Agent says: Date of birth? Last name? Zip code? 

Many customer service reps ask questions this way. But when you talk in little bytes, you sound robotic. And it's hard to build rapport with customers if you sound robotic. After all, rapport is a human-to-human connection.

Consider the difference between placing a fast food order where the person says, "Pull forward." and saying, "My pleasure. We'll have your order ready at the window." Which sounds better to you? These are both complete sentences, but the attitude is very different. 

So, speaking in complete sentences is one of the easiest ways to make your conversations with customers warm and friendly. 

Take the first step towards building lasting connections with your customers today.

Does rapport really matter? from Building Rapport with Customers by Myra Golden

Check out my Building Rapport with Customers LinkedIn Learning course and find out why I have more than 7,000 five-star reviews in this course! Get a half-dozen MORE GAME-CHANGING tips for building rapport inside my course! 

Hope to see you in my digital classroom!