FirstLineCoach
Building rapport with customers you dislike
D3 — Supporting1. Diagnosis
Agent only engages with customers that they build a natural rapport with.
2. Behaviour Observations
What you might see or hear that points to this pattern.
- Agent has good conversations with some types of people but not others.
- The mood of the conversations is controlled by the customer's initial mood.
- Agent comes across as arrogant or uncaring with the demographic they have most difficulty with.
3. Session Objective
The objective is to help the agent see that in their role as a customer service professional they will be speaking to all types of people and that they need to build a relationship with all of them.
4. Session Tactics
How to prepare for and structure the 45-minute call review.
Find a call where the agent is engaging really well with someone they like and a call where they are disengaged. Play the liked-customer call first to where rapport is established. Discuss what built the rapport — pick out elements controlled by the agent. Before playing the other call, discuss the types of people they will be speaking with — try to find an example of that type of person in the agent's life that they respect. Then play the disengaged call to the breakdown point. Discuss what the agent could do to FEEL differently, then what they could SAY differently.
5. GROW Experiments
Experiments the coachee might choose to try. These are offers, not prescriptions — the coachee selects what feels right for them.
Introduce yourself more formally (or less formally) than usual to the customer you have most difficulty with. Ask how they want to be addressed.
Offer a prepared story about someone in your life who has similar characteristics to the customer. The story should connect to the customer's concerns.
Think of someone similar to the customer who you like — speak to the customer as if talking to this person. Rehearse in the coaching session.