Final answer:
To gain trust and build relationships with customers, it is essential to educate staff, assist contacts, connect on common ground, communicate regularly, follow industry peers, provide exceptional internal service, understand the community, and understand and respond to your manager's needs.
Step-by-step explanation:
To gain trust and build a relationship with a customer, it's crucial to adopt a sincere and professional approach. Some key actions include:
- Providing extensive education for your staff and anyone involved in servicing the customer to ensure they are knowledgeable and ready to meet customer needs.
- Assisting your contacts whenever possible by responding to their requests, offering recommendations, and making introductions to add value to the relationship.
- Finding common ground to connect and establish rapport, thereby fostering a sense of mutual understanding and shared interests.
- Being adaptable to changes and vigilant about any potential barriers that may hinder the relationship, shows your commitment to the customer's experience.
- Engage in regular communication with your contacts, not just when you need something from them, to maintain a balanced and positive interaction. This might include providing information, inviting them to events, or checking in to see how they're doing.
- Follow industry peers on social media, engaging with them to create a network of professional contacts and promote goodwill.
- Consider your manager as an important internal customer and provide exceptional service to gain positive feedback and potential growth opportunities.
- As a new hire, work on building your credibility through a track record of reliability, hard work, and gratitude towards colleagues.
- Embrace vulnerability in your professional interactions, acknowledging that authentic connections can foster trust.
- Invest time in understanding the community you're working with, respect its history, and be cautious not to over-promise.
- Create a confidential list of observations about what drives your manager and use that knowledge to enhance your working relationship with them.
By taking these steps, you demonstrate a dedication to the customer's success and well-being, which is essential for building a lasting and trustworthy relationship.