The Art of Building Trust & Rapport

Jeffery L. Jeter (Jeff)

Director of Fleet Services

Spotsylvania County Va. Schools

Defining TrustDefining Trust

Trust means confidence. The opposite of trust – distrust – is suspicion. When you trust people, you have confidence in them – in their integrity and in their abilities. When you distrust people, you are suspicious of them – of their integrity, their agenda, their capabilities, or their track record.

Two sides to trust:

Ethics (integrity; what kind of a human being you are)

Competence (skills; capabilities)

Stephen Covey

Trust is Four Things

Competence - competence breeds trust

A sense of benevolence

People doing what they say; consistency in behavior and actions

Being trustworthy and extending trust

How Can High Trust Ensure How Can High Trust Ensure Success?Success?

Results in everyone working towards and committed to delivering the organizations “Mission and Goals”.

High trust results in greater freedom and less regulations.

Success means a strong brand and reputation, leading to attracting and retaining good staff.

High trust means less conflict and people given the benefit of the doubt when things go wrong.

Means people can challenge decisions without feeling personally threatened .

Define RapportDefine Rapport Building a relation; or a Connection

Rapport is really about reducing the differences between you and your client, and building your similarities.

In normal conversation we already do this – we look for things we have in common, such as people we know, schools we went to, former employers, where we live, the age of our children.

Six Strategies to Consider in Six Strategies to Consider in Rapport BuildingRapport Building UNDERSTANDING

ATTITUDE

LISTENING

NONVERBALS

INTEREST

TEAM COHESIVENESS

Techniques to Building Customer Techniques to Building Customer RapportRapport Do An Attitude Check

Immediate Customer Recognition

Make the Greeting Warm and Sincere

Handshakes are Optional

Avoid asking “How may I help you?”

Understanding your Customer

Things You Can Do as A Fleet Professional Hold quarterly

“Customer Focus Group Meetings”

Spend time with your customers (waiting area)

Have a ‘Customer Suggestion Box”

Write a “Mission and Vision Statement”

Benchmark

Have Performance Measures

Prepare an SOP

Business Plan

Prepare an end of year “Report Card”

Have Goals and Objectives