The Art of Small Talk: Being Observant

One universally successful small talk tactic that builds rapport is to find something to compliment your customer on. When face-to-face, you should be looking for things that impact you and using that as fuel to fire your conversation. “That's from the new Ralph Lauren collection, isn't it? It looks good on you” or “Oh, I love your handbag, Is that snakeskin?” 

It's very hard for a customer to remain cold and aloof when they or something they have is being complimented. In most instances, they'll open up straight away. “It was a gift from my husband he found it in Rome”. And from that point on you're rolling. 

If you notice your customer has left their dog outside your store you could open with, “Hi I'm Joan. Would you like me to get your dog a bowl of water?” If they're wearing a logo shirt of a well-known sports team make a comment about it. “Ah, a fellow Eagles fan I take it”. 

By zeroing in on something that's of interest to your customer, you immediately endear yourself to them and that's a great position from which to start any customer interaction.