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Building Rapport with Customers
Posted - 11 August 2011 by Catherine Davies
Top 10 ways to build rapport with your customers
- Meet them face-to-face It’s the best way, which is why networking works! To build rapport, you need to listen and remember what they say. Ask open questions and be interested in them. Remembering their name next time you meet and ideally a few details they shared with you can make a great impression. Give them something they need, such as some valued advice, or introduce them to a contact.
- Keep in touch. Following up from your first meeting with a friendly email, invite your existing customers to an event, ring your customers to check they are happy with your product, connect with them on Linkedin and introduce them to another relevant contact. These are just a few examples and automated marketing can make this less time consuming if you have more than a handful of contacts.
- Give more than is expected. What extra value could you offer? Top tips that people don’t have to pay for that share your expertise, free postage, loyalty cards, a recommendation or referral…
- Add video to your website. When meeting all your customers is not an option, you can build rapport with an online video. It can introduce you to your customers better than words and there’s something about seeing you before doing business with you that can build reassurance. The video could be a demonstration video, an introduction to your product, or simply a welcome to your website. We’ve currently got a special offer video package available, get in touch for more info!
- Keep promises. Do what you say you will, when you said you would.
- Be welcoming. Make sure that every experience of your company is a welcoming, professional one. This includes visiting your business in person, looking on your website, meeting you, or any of your colleagues at a networking event, a phone call and on social media profiles.
- Plain talking. Avoid using abbreviations or technical terms in general conversation, they just switch people off. If you do, make sure you check understanding and explain what you mean.
- Be human. Get involved in non-business activity, so people get to see another side of you. Maybe you volunteer, get involved in charity events, support a local school, attend an evening course, review books…
- Testimonials and recommendations from others can really help people to build trust and rapport with you. If you do a great job, you will get these! Add them to your website, your written documents and promotional materials.
- Care about the impression you make. If you want to build rapport, you need to take time for others…you never know where it might lead.
Tags: customer rapport, networking, video, communication, intrnet marketing, urban media
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