Building rapport is fundamental to good business

A week ago I wrote about the bad experience with my eyewear store. In the last week I have had the exact opposite at two other eyewear stores.

The first was another store in the same chain as my regular store – in another area. From the moment I walked in I was welcomed and given 100% attention, relevant advice, great suggestions, and all the while the customer service guy built excellent rapport with me.

This then opened the door for me to mention the poor experience I had in their other store and he immediately apologised and said he would like to get more details so they could ensure it never happened again. He rebuilt my confidence in the brand and welcomed the complaint as an opportunity to improve. I found new frames and ordered them.

Strangely, my old glasses broke on Saturday. I found a sunglasses shop nearby (one of a large chain) but it wasn’t a repair place. However, the two service staff immediately chatted with me. They asked to see the glasses and explained they don’t do repairs, but then one of them said he could do the repair but it had a tricky spring and might take a little while. I didn’t mind. No one else was in the store and the other service person chatted to me about Melbourne, last week’s storm, and just made me feel very welcome.

I wasn’t urged to consider their range (which I expected) and I enjoyed the chat. When people came into the store she excused herself and went to serve them, and the guy repairing my glasses continued his fine work and eventually had them perfectly repaired. He explained why the repair was not straightforward and how the spring loading worked. When I asked how much I owed, he said no charge. I insisted and they took it as a charity donation.

I will highly recommend that store and that chain. It was all about the wonderful rapport. The staff seemed happy in their jobs and displayed a great willingness to help.

On the other hand I had an unpleasant exchange when I returned some jewellery to a major department store within days of purchase. The person at the counter sent me away because the receipt was not in the box (labeled with the store’s own price tags). I called from home and asked for the manager as I had lost the receipt but had my credit card print out with the exact amount and the date (only a couple of days before) and assumed this, plus the original price tags and all the wrapping, would be sufficient proof of purchase. I didn’t get to speak to the manager but I heard him tell the woman I did speak to (one of the staff) “Tell her NO! Take her name and tell her I will call her tomorrow”.

I told the woman I could hear everything the manager had said and asked if he was there why couldn’t I just speak to him. She said he was leaving for the day. The next day he didn’t call so towards the end of the day I called. He said that what I had was not proof of purchase so could not be refunded. I insisted I had the credit card statement, with exactly the amount and date and the name of the store, and described and named the guy that had served me who at the time had sought permission for me to exchange the item if it didn’t work.

No – he was adamant. The most he would do would exchange or provide a gift certificate. Not once did he attempt to develop any rapport. He treated the exchange request as a battle. I went back to the store an hour later and he happened to be serving someone (I saw his nametag although we had never met. He saw me looking at him and saw the box so deduced it was me and said in a forced way “Hello EEE-V –E”. I smiled and said hello. He said he would be with me in a little while, and continued to serve the person (of course… that’s okay).

When the person had finished a few minutes later a new customer arrived and I looked at the manager who looked at me and then he went straight to the new customer and began a whole new transaction. I just stared in amazement – I was being punished. Eventually he instructed another staff member to give me a gift certificate for the amount. I should never have lost the receipt. I should not have been treated without any rapport. I would never have expected this from that particular department store. He would have done a lot better to build a positive relationship with me – even if he still resorted to the gift certificate versus a refund.

Rapport means relationship.

No matter what job you are in, building rapport helps you achieve your goals quicker.

Ways to develop rapport effectively:

• Introduce yourself and say good morning or good afternoon or a nice warm hello
• Be welcoming
• Smile and have good eye contact
• Show interest – without distraction
• Engage in conversation
• Care about the person’s situation, problem or emotions
• Don’t over talk when a person is in a rush
• Ask good questions
• Get the other person talking about themselves
• Generate trust
• Show empathy or understanding
• Self disclose if appropriate – say something about yourself
• Deliver on any promises you make
• Anticipate a need someone may have
• Offer assistance
• Be flexible in how you communicate – adapt to the style of the other person
• If you dislike the person you need to build rapport with, rise above it and be 100% professional
• If you make a mistake, apologise
• If someone wants you to hurry up, or seems pressed for time – then go as fast as you can.

View Six Ways to Build Rapport.

Eve Ash has produced many training programs on service, managing service staff and selecting service staff, along with skill assessment tools for service staff and managers.