1. Lesson 3:
Relationship
Building
Mama’s Subs

2. Relationship Building
• Mastering relationship building involves six
steps:
1. Establishing rapport
2. Interacting positively with customers
3. Identifying customers’ needs
4. Making the customer feel valued
5. Maintaining ongoing relationships
6. Handling different types of customers

3. Relationship Building
• By the end of this lesson you should know:
• How to effectively establish rapport with your
customers
• How to create and maintain positive
interactions with customers
• How to identify what customer’s needs are
• What you can do to make a customer feel
valuable
• How to maintain ongoing relationships with
customers
• How to handle different types of customers

4. Step 1: Establishing
Rapport
• Establishing rapport begins the moment you
start communication with your customers
• How you establish rapport depends on your
customer interactions
• It also depends on who your customers are,
what they expect from Mama’s Subs, and how
Mama’s Subs can enhance customers’ lives

5. Establishing Rapport
• Be friendly
• Treat customers with a warm, welcoming attitude
• No matter who your customers are, everyone appreciates someone
who is friendly
• When you smile and offer a friendly greeting, you put your
customers at ease
• You show them from the start that you are approachable and
willing to help
• Be interested
• Being interested means listening when customers respond to you
• It also means responding accordingly to what the customers have
to say
• When listening to customers, think of ways to brighten up their
day; it is an effective way to show you are interested

6. Establishing Rapport
• Be considerate
• Being considerate means showing kindly awareness or
regard for customers’ feelings
• For example, if a customer is having a bad day, you
should respond to them by saying, “I’m sorry to hear
you’re having a bad day. What can I do to make it
better?”
• Even if you cannot personally understand or relate to
what the customer is saying, you can be considerate in
your response
• Be trustful
• The best way to demonstrate that you can be trusted is
by being honest and ethical in everything that you do
• Being trustful also includes treating people with dignity
and respect

7. Establishing Rapport
• Find common ground
• When you listen to your customers’ statements and
responses, try to find something you have in common
• To a customer who is having a bad day, you might
respond by saying: “I’m sorry to hear that you are having
a bad day. I had one of those days yesterday.”
• The customer will appreciate that you can relate to their
experience
• Even if you did not have a similar experience, you can
find other ways to relate
• Empathize with the customer, ask questions, show interest
• Complimenting a customer on something they are
wearing is also a good way to find common ground
• E.g., “I like your watch, sir.”

8. Step 2: Interacting Positively
with Customers
• Once you establish rapport,
continue building your
relationships by interacting
with your customers in a
positive manner
• When you are positive and
upbeat, customers will
respond similarly
• At work, be the person that
brings others up

9. Interacting Positively
with Customers
• Be helpful
• Show your customers that you care
• Do something to make your customers feel good about
themselves
• Set a personal goal to help someone every day
• Even when a customer does not directly ask for help, if
they seem like they need assistance, offer it to them
• Be committed
• When you commit yourself to your customers and to
Mama’s Subs, you will look for ways to make things
better
• No matter what you do on your shift, strive to do your
best
• Give your customers your all
• Customers will respond positively to a hard worker

10. Interacting Positively
with Customers
• Be a problem solver
• Be part of the solution rather than the problem
• Look for answers when customers have problems
• Don’t merely focus on what is wrong, do something about it
• People who focus on problems complain; people who focus
on solutions find ways to make things better
• Be credible
• This means being knowledgeable about the products at
Mama’s Subs
• Customers appreciate employees who are knowledgeable
• Learn everything you can about the food and services we
offer here at Mama’s Subs
• If you need additional knowledge, ask your manager for help

11. Interacting Positively
with Customers
• Believe in your products
• You need to believe in the food and services we sell
at Mama’s Subs
• Otherwise, you will not come off as sincere
• Believing that our products will help improve the
lives of our customers e.g., by helping a busy
mother save time by purchasing quality food for
their children) is crucial for doing the right thing for
them
• It does not matter whether you make the subs, take
the orders, or check customers out; truly believing
in our products will help you promote yourself, the
products, and Mama’s Subs in a positive and sincere
manner

12. Step 3: Identifying
Customers’ Needs
• Customers come into
businesses for various
reasons
• Sometimes they are not
very clear about their
needs
• When you deal with
customers, your job is to
uncover their needs

13. Identifying Customers’
Needs
• Ask questions
• In lesson 2, you learned about open and closed
questions
• For a review, click here to return to lesson 2:
http://www.slideshare.net/nikiwild3/lesson-2-
effective-communication-33164675
• Use open questions to get the customer talking
• Questions that begin with “what”, “why”, and “how”
encourage customers to talk
• Used closed questions to clarify answers to open
questions
• These include questions that begin with “who”,
“would”, “how”, and “where”
• Notice that “how” can be used for either open or
closed questions

14. Identifying Customers’
Needs
• Summarize customers’ needs
• After you have asked enough questions to determine a
customer’s needs, summarize your understanding of what
they have told you
• Start your summarization with, “From what I understand…”
• If your understanding is incorrect, ask more open and closed
questions until you get it right
• Recommend appropriate solutions
• Make sure that your recommendations are based on what
the customer told you
• Refer to things that the customer said when making
recommendations
• EX: “Our lighter options at Mama’s Subs are perfect if you’re
trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. They are low calorie, low
fat, and we use whole grain bread bread.”

15. Identifying Customers’
Needs
• Handle objections
• This can be accomplished by using the
suggestions in lesson 2 about dealing with
customers who say no
• Link to lesson 2:
http://www.slideshare.net/nikiwild3/lesson-2-
effective-communication-33164675
• Listen to their objection, acknowledge it, follow
up with a question, consider the customer’s
answer, and respond appropriately

16. Step 4: Making the
Customer Feel Valued
• When you make customers feel valued, you
are on your way to building strong
relationships
• At Mama’s Subs, we strive to make the
customer feel important and valued

17. Making the Customer
Feel Valued
• Go out of your way for customers
• Do what you can to help customers
• Try to give customers more than what they ask for
• When a customer asks a questions, give them more than a one-word
answer
• Help those customers who do not openly ask for help but need it
• When you go out of your way for customers, they notice
• Validate customers’ decisions
• No matter what type of sub, side item, drink, or deal the customer decides
on, validate their choice
• For example, when a customer picks a certain sub, respond with something
like, “Good choice. That sub is one of my favorites.”
• Instill positive feelings
• Never make a customer feel bad about their decision
• Always encourage the customer and make them feel good about their
decisions

18. Step 6: Maintaining Ongoing
Relationships
• Once you build strong
relationships with
customers, your work is not
done
• In any relationship, you
have to work to maintain it
• Customers come back a
second, third, and fourth
time because you
established a relationship
with them

19. Maintaining Ongoing
Relationships
• Remember your customers
• Nothing makes a customer feel more valued than being
remembered
• Acknowledge your repeat customers by saying
something to show you remember them
• EX: “Welcome back to Mama’s Subs, ma’am!”
• Customers who do repeat business at Mama’s Subs
appreciate being recognized
• Learn customers’ names
• When customers come into Mama’s Subs repeatedly,
make it a point to learn their names
• Addressing the customer by their name will let them
know they are important to you and the restaurant

20. Maintaining Ongoing
Relationships
• Remember something about your customers
• Everyone appreciates an employee with a good
memory
• It shows your customers that you value your
relationship with them
• EX: “Hi, Mrs. Johnston! Hope everything’s going
well with your new house.”
• Learn your customer’s preferences
• If you deal with customer’s repeatedly, get to know
what they like
• If you have too many customers to remember each
ones’ tastes, you could start a card or computer file
and note your customers’ preferences

21. Step 6: Handling Different Types
of Customers
• Most of the customers
at Mama’s Subs will be
average people with
average needs
• Some customers,
however, will test your
skills and your patience
• In addition, you will have
to interact with
customers who are
disabled or from a
different ethnic
background than you

22. Handling Different Types
of Customers
• The pushy, obnoxious customer
• Maintain a professional demeanor
• Speak softly and control your voice inflection
• Remain calm
• Do not take their behavior personally
• The timid, indecisive customer
• Help draw these customers out and get them to talk more
• Ask open questions
• Listen closely to their responses and guide them to give you
an answer about their decision
• Be sensitive to these kinds of customers
• Help them feel more relaxed an comfortable
• Do not be pushy or use a forceful tone

23. Handling Different Types
of Customers
• The overly friendly, flirty customer
• Keep your end of the conversation on business
• These customers can be difficult to handle because they do
not see their behavior as inappropriate
• It is up to you to control the conversation
• The culturally different customer
• We live in a society that incorporates many cultures and
customs
• Yet people often do not know how to talk or act in the
presence of a person with a different background
• Displaying kindness, smiling, and being honest translate
across cultures
• Try to make yourself aware of different cultures by
researching them

24. Handling Different Types
of Customers
• People with disabilities
• Treat them like you would anyone else
• Make eye contact and speak in your normal
tone and pace of speech
• As you continue with the customer, if you
notice that you need to slow down, speak up,
or enunciate more, do so
• Treat them with the same dignity and respect
you would anyone else