How do you demonstrate empathy and rapport while listening to the customer?

1 Use active listening techniques

Active listening is a way of listening that involves paying attention, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, and asking open-ended questions. This type of listening demonstrates to the customer that you are interested, engaged, and respectful of their views and feelings. It also helps to uncover their pain points, goals, and expectations, and to align your solution with their needs and values. Examples of active listening techniques include paraphrasing, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing, and asking open-ended questions. Paraphrasing involves repeating what the customer said in your own words to show that you understood and to check for accuracy. Reflecting involves mirroring the customer's emotions and tone to show that you empathize and to validate their feelings. Clarifying involves asking questions to clear up any confusion or ambiguity, and to confirm your understanding of the customer's situation and needs. Summarizing involves providing a brief overview of the main points and key takeaways from the conversation, and linking them to your value proposition and next steps. Asking open-ended questions involves using questions that start with who, what, where, when, why, and how to encourage the customer to share more information, opinions, and insights, and to avoid yes-or-no answers.

4 Provide feedback and appreciation

The last step to demonstrate empathy and rapport while listening to the customer is to provide feedback and appreciation. You can show that you are listening and following the customer's logic and reasoning by using phrases such as “I see” or “I understand”. You can also show that you are on the same page and that you share the customer's opinions and feelings by using phrases such as “I agree” or “I like”. Additionally, you can show that you are curious and that you want to explore the customer's ideas and perspectives further by using phrases such as “I wonder” or “I'm curious”. Furthermore, you can show that you are thankful and that you value the customer's time, input, and feedback by using phrases such as “Thank you” or “I appreciate”. Lastly, you can show that you are impressed and that you admire the customer's achievements, skills, or qualities by using phrases such as “You're awesome” or “You're amazing”. You can also show that you are proud and that you recognize the customer's efforts, results, or outcomes by using phrases such as “You did a great job” or “You nailed it”. Feedback and appreciation can help you to reinforce your understanding, agreement, and support, and to boost the customer's confidence, satisfaction, and loyalty.