Building Rapport

In this topic you’ll look at the importance of building rapport with your callers. Although this is
closely tied to the approach, which is one of the steps required to make a sale, it is an
important aspect of every call.

Building rapport is the first step to building a relationship with you customer. Building a
relationship means repeat business for the company and a repeat customer is a valuable asset.

Do you have a good rapport with your clients? A first is made in fewer than five minutes. How
your conduct yourself during this critical time could affect the business relationship you have
with your caller forever. In face-to-face communication, body language and facial expressions
generally convey more than our verbal communication. When you are communicating over the
phone, everything is focused on your voice and your words and from them, a lasting impression
of your and the company will be formed.

There are eight elements to establishing rapport with your callers. Each of the eight elements
listed below will be covered in this topic.

 Display a Friendly Attitude

As a front line agent, a caller is interacting with you on verbal level only. Your voice says a lot
about you and it may not just be the information you are providing that is coming across loud
and clear. The first two elements of building rapport are attitude and tone.

 Keep your attitude positive, friendly, and helpful. Make slight adjustments for the
personality type of your caller.
 Smile when you answer the phone and it will be reflected in a friendly and pleasant tone
to your customer.

The third element of building rapport is to greet the caller warmly, and as a friend. Friends
listen better because of the comfort level that is established. By treating callers as friends, you
begin to earn their trust. Treating callers as friends means it is easier to turn them into
customers.
Element four is to identify yourself and your company. People like to know who they are
speaking to. It goes a long way towards making friends with callers if they know your name.

You call a transit information line and the person on the other end of the line answer the phone
impatiently with, “Transit Commission. What do you want?” This agent ignored some of the
first four elements of building rapport. Which of the following suggestions would improve this
call? Select all that apply.

 The agent should control his tone of voice and project a more positive attitude.
 The agent should tell the caller his name and not just the company name.
 The agent should greet the caller in a friendly manner.
 The agent should ask which train or bus number the caller wants.

An inbound caller agent at Bay Bell Insurance builds rapport with a customer while using the
first four elements.

Theresa: (smiling as she answer the phone) Good afternoon, Bay Bell Insurance. This is Theresa
speaking. How may I assist you today?

Margaret: Good afternoon. I would like to get a quote on insurance for my car.

Theresa: Great. May I have your name, address and make and model of your car, please?

Margaret: My name is Margaret Smith. I live at 142 Oak Street in Springfield, New Jersey and I
drive a Chevrolet Cavaller.

Theresa: Thank you Margaret. What kind of coverage are you looking for?

Margaret: Well, I don’t really know a lot about insurance, and the other places I have called
were in such a hurry that I wasn’t comfortable asking questions. They kept throwing around
insurance terms, and I have no idea what they were talking about!

Theresa: Buying insurance can be tricky. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Margaret: You are so helpful I really appreciate that. You are the first person I have talked to
today that seemed to care about the customer! –End-

Did you notice how Theresa used the first four elements of building rapport during the call?
Theresa displayed a positive attitude and a pleasant tone while greeting the customer warmly.
She also identified herself and the company. Margaret was uncomfortable with her experiences
with other insurance agents that day. Theresa realized that a little friendliness can go a long
way towards establishing a relationship and gaining a customer.

Building rapport is the first step in building a friendship and a lasting business relationship with
a caller. True or false?

Element five says you should use a customer’s name whenever possible. Make each call a
personal call. A caller likes to hear the sound of her own name. If the initial communication is
unpleasant, a customer will not want to deal with your company again.

Elements six involves asking open questions. The key building rapport is to let the customers do
most of the talking. You can only obtain the information you need to either close the sale, or
meet the customers’ needs, from the customers themselves.

 Open questions are generally begin with who, what, when, where, why and how. They
require some elaboration in the answers and allow for interaction.
 Closed questions are answered with a simple, usually short answer, and do not allow for
much interaction. These are particularly harmful during sales calls.

Element seven has to do with the phrasing used during a call. Carefully phrasing the first few
sentences of an exchange is very helpful in building rapport. You want to choose words that let
the customer know that he or she is still in charge. Some examples are:

 “I believe I have an offer you may interested in…” instead of “I have an offer..”
 “With your permission, I would like to tell you about…” rather than, “Let me tell you…”

Element eight is DON’T READ. They very nature of establishing rapport insists that there should
be two-way communication between you and your customer. One of the fastest ways to kill any
chance of establishing rapport is to read a script to the customer! You have then reduced the
customer to an audience member, rather than an active participant. How can a call seem
personal if you are reading the same script to everyone? Either memorize it, or practice saying
it out loud enough times until it sounds natural.