Final answer:
The basic techniques for building successful customer relationships include establishing rapport, building goodwill, and creating trust, all of which rely on effective communication skills.
Step-by-step explanation:
The basic techniques used to build a relationship with customers are establishing rapport, building goodwill, and creating trust. Establishing rapport involves listening to and understanding the customer, which is crucial for effective communication. This skill is often undervalued but is essential as it helps to uncover the underlying emotions behind a customer's comments. Moreover, building goodwill can be achieved by finding commonalities and connecting with the people you plan to engage with. Finally, creating trust requires clear, accurate, and precise communication, as evidenced in successful engineering relationships with internal and external customers. Crucially, all of these require good communication skills, including effective emailing where the email address and subject line act as a greeting, as well as being attentive and adaptable in interactions.