When "building rapport" goes wrong...

In addition to teaching employees about policies and procedures, managers also urge their staff to provide friendly service to clients and customers. Many managers teach employees to build rapport and make everyone feel as if they are the most important customer.

I’ve noticed a lot of employees try, but I have also seen several fail when they try too hard. When learning how to build rapport, employees need to be taught how to be personable without being too personal.

Prime example...

Recently I met my family at a restaurant. We had attentive service all night, and our waitress was extremely friendly. However, when one of us made a beer selection, she informed us that she had had ten of them the night before and then drove home.

Then she exclaimed (with a slight grin), “And we all know where you end up when you drink and drive!”

!^&?*@*!?!?!?

Next, she proceeded to justify her actions by explaining that she drove home because she got into an argument with her boyfriend.

Our mouths all dropped, and we just looked at each other. This conversation, while not acceptable during most occasions, definitely was not appropriate with a three-year-old at the table.

So a perfectly enjoyable atmosphere with a friendly server became very uncomfortable after a few inappropriate and unnecessary comments.

Some lessons:

• Match your comments to your customers
• Be yourself when interacting with customers, but be respectful
• Try to be very personable without being too personal