Effective influence means the work gets done – and your customer feels good about it. Part of ensuring commitment and rapport with your customer involves your ability to deliver support – or perhaps better stated, to ensure that your customers feel supported. The empathy connection between you and a customer remains intact when they believe you understand their perspective – and that you care…period.
To effectively deliver these supportive behaviors to your customers, consider the following:
• First, don’t rush it. There has to be a reason for a relationship, and that takes time…time and shared history. Forcing rapport causes others to RUN in the opposite direction.
• Next, think about what can you say or do to communicate that you understand their experience…their point of view (notice I didn’t say “agree” with it, just understand it).
• Plan in advance what can you say or do to communicate that you care about their experience with your organization…their perspective.
• Finally, if you feel uncomfortable, keep in mind we’re not asking you to control another person…just to manage the impact you have on them.
