“This call may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes”

Yep, that is the famous line you hear every time you call into your bank, insurance company or other business where you are handling important matters. Well, one of the jobs I had in my corporate career was monitoring those calls. I was responsible for listening to calls, coaching customer service agents on how to improve, and also assisting with the training of new agents. 

While listening to calls, other representatives and I listened for several different things on each call. One of the most important things we listened for was rather or not agents were building a rapport with their customers. 

In working with entrepreneurs, I noticed many skip this important step, especially in the online world. However, building relationships is one of the most parts of building a business. When you build relationships you set your business apart. You shift from being just another coach, speaker, or author, you become the one they want to work with. 

Here are a few tips to help you build relationships with your target audience. 

• Take the time to actively listen to them. Listen as they describe their pains and pleasures. Listen to their desires and learn what their needs are. 
• Show them you have listened to them by expressing empathy. Share your experiences in a relatable manner.
• Solve their problems. Once you are aware of their problem and have shown you care. You can start to position yourself to make an offer. Share what you ave available that will solve their problem. Share how you can help end their pain.  
• After your customer accepts what it is you have to offer, deliver. Deliver a quality product or service to them that does what you said it would do  
• Last but, not least follow up with your customer. Ask follow up questions to make sure you have solved their problem. Find out if they have any more needs. And be ready to help them with the next steps.

I know these may seem like simple steps, but each one is equally important and will help you build relationships over and over again. And the better you are at building relationships, the more your business will grow.