Today you’re going to learn 6 little-known tips for building rapport, which is the most important part of any sales call.
I don’t care how great you are at handling objections or how amazingly you demonstrate your product. If you don’t get this right, you’re not going to establish rapport!
Building Rapport Video Training:
Today you will learn one of the biggest rapport building mistakes people make in the very beginning of their sales calls.
It doesn’t matter how well everything goes in the process.
If they don’t like you, they don’t trust you. If there isn’t that bond made on the call, it’s not going to work as far as closing the sale.
1. The Very First Step for Building Rapport
First, we’re going to talk about how to build rapport with your prospects in the very beginning.
This is one of the tools you can use on your way to build a million dollar business.
So the prospect calls, they’re interested in buying your product or service, your coaching packages, whatever it is you’re selling.
So,one of the first things you want to do is say, “Hey, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule”.
This is just an acknowledgement that people’s time is important. And this is the technique that we call just simple flattery.
Always start off by making sure you’re letting them know that they’re important.
2. Ask These Types of Rapport-Building Questions
The next thing you want to do, and this is so important: You want to ask how, what and why questions.
Now, these are open ended questions.
What you want is people talking about their experiences.
Let’s say the prospect lives in Alabama as an example.
- What made you decide to live in Alabama?
- How long have you been out there?
- What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
These are not questions that really can be answered with a yes or no. It gets people to open up.
When people start talking about themselves and they feel listened to, this is when they start to relax.
Of course you want to be a natural human being and show compassion, empathy, and genuine excitement when they’re talking about the details.
They Are the Star of The Show
Make them feel heard. And listen as you’re going through it as people begin opening up about what they’re doing. This step is critically important.
Now, one tiny thing before we move on to the next tip: How and what are little better than why.
“Why” can sometimes make people feel a little bit on their heels? Why are you doing it? Almost like it’s a judgement type thing.
You want to make sure you’re pretty skilled socially if you’re going to use why questions.
In general if you want to be safe, just focus on the how, and the what.
At this point, you’ve asked them some “how, what, why” questions and the prospect is beginning to open up a little bit, they’re feeling more comfortable.
3. Similarity Helps in Building Rapport
Now, the next thing you want to do is you want to acknowledge their passions.
You want them to understand that the things they’re talking about are shared mutual interests.
It’s about finding things that they talk about with joy and saying, “You know what? I have that same feeling as well!”
And nothing bonds people like shared mutual interests.
Ask these questions and find ways that you can also acknowledge their passions. Remember, they’re the star of the show.
When you say, “Hey, I have the same joy that you do!” it makes people feel relaxed.
4. Use Humor with Your Sales Prospects
The next technique you can use to get people to just like you and trust you a little bit more in the rapport building stage is just a little bit of humor.
There’s nothing like a little self deprecating humor or cracking a joke about yourself that gets people that just relax.
They say laughter really is the best medicine.
There’s actually chemicals that get released in our body. It causes us to feel relaxed like it’s the happiness pill.
When you make people happy, they feel good and they’re going to like you and trust you, and they’re going to buy from you more.
5. Use Genuine Flattery
So, the next technique we’re going to talk about is just use some good old fashioned, genuine based flattery.
For example, if a prospect says, “I’m a data analyst”, that’s wonderful.
You can find ways to compliment them based off of that.
You’re just finding little things that they’re talking about, and you’re making them feel good about it.
You want to be genuine, and you don’t want to fake things.
If they say they’re a data analyst, you can say, “Man, that is really impressive. I tried to study that in school, but I just never really felt comfortable. I was always just impressed by people who could think like that, and especially the fact that you make a living by doing it. It’s just so amazing.”
And I was being honest, I was speaking from the heart. It’s not fake flattery, but it’s genuinely based off experience.
But as a result, I’m letting them know that they’re special.
When you tell people that they’re special, and that you’re impressed by them, that’s just such a wonderful feeling.
Again, making people feel good is a way to get people to trust and like you.
It’s all about lowering that barrier between you and that prospect, building that trust and rapport.
6. The Most Important Part of Your Sales Process
Our final tip today for rapport building is potentially our most important one, it’s actually a dual-function technique.
Yes, we’re going to continue to build that rapport and trust.
But it also functions as a method to learn more about your prospect and see if they’re actually worthy of spending time on the phone with.
Their time is valuable, your time is valuable as a salesperson, and you really want to be just primarily talk to people that you can actually help.
Then you’re going to be able to do a transaction and provide value.
How to Qualify Your Leads Early On
Ask open ended questions like “What do you do for a living?” What’s your favorite part about that?
Those are open ended questions where they can begin to talk about their life, but also gives you a sense of their financial background.
If somebody says, they’re a CEO of a bank, there’s a high probability they’re going to be able to afford your product or service. So finances aren’t necessarily going to be an issue, right?
If somebody says that they’re unemployed and haven’t had a job in 19 years…They’re probably not the right person to be on the phone with.
You could ask a few more questions. Maybe they have a trust fund. And you know they probably don’t but you’re just gathering that information.
Build Rapport with Qualified Prospects
That’s honestly one of the most respectful things you can do.
As a result, you don’t want to waste people’s time, you don’t want your time wasted as well. So just ask them questions like that up front.
Now, let’s say you have a product or service that isn’t very expensive, but requires a time investment.
You can ask questions like, “What do you do with your free time?”
So, if someone says, “Well, I don’t really have a ton of free time, because I’ve got 15 kids, my wife’s asking me to do stuff around the house, and I work 70 hours a week.”
Because of this, there’s a high probability that they may have the financial ability to afford your product, but they don’t have the time to use it.
And that’s some friction in the sales process.
So you want to gather that information in the rapport building stage to save time and also build that connection as well.
It’s a perfect transition once they pass those checks along the way so you can know that this is somebody you really want to help when you move into the next phase of the sales process.
Use These Tips to Start Building Rapport
In conclusion, those are several different ways of building that trust and rapport in the beginning of the sales call.
Don’t rush through it. Don’t skip steps. Get that connection in the beginning because that’s going to help you close those sales later on.
My name is Steve Nixon from StrategySamurai.com.
And thank you so much for reading! If you like this article, check out our YouTube channel. It’s full of all kinds of great tutorials and tips to help you succeed in your business.