Rapport Building: Bond Like James

There's nothing like building rapport with the right people at the right time. It's an enthralling experience that really helps you to learn more about the person your speaking with. In the arena of sales, rapport building becomes the main reason why anyone would buy off of you or even continue the conversation in the first place.

That being said, what even is "building rapport" and how can something like that help you get past rebuttals and close sales? Can it also establish a genuine connection with prospects and leads?

Rapport building: The Art Of Conversation

Isolated and by itself "Rapport Building" as a conversational tool piece is as old as time itself and is not directly tied to: a company, a business, a businesses goals or even your own personal sales targets. However it does reflect your ability to sell as this deals with "soft skills" which in turn helps you to increase your sales conversion and in turn increases your revenue.

So how does it work?

This starts off as most things do, at the beginning of the whole conversation. Too many of us sales people take a perspective that there is a "section" or a "place" where its perfect to start chopping it up with a prospect for a bit and then get back into the sale. There are reasons for this that we will get into in later blog posts but lets just stick to the very beginning right now by going through a quick example.

In this example I will be using an over-the-phone cold call situation as it is a common way that goods and services are sold in modern times. This will be a business to consumer example in a generic industry and will a breakdown afterwards.

Sales and Acting come together with the practice of role playing

Rapport Building in Role Play:

Salesperson: "Hey is (Mr./Mrs/Ms. blank) there? This is "Salesperson X" with "the company" giving you a call. How are you doing today?

Customer: uhhh who?

Salesperson: Its (reiterate company) did I catch you at a bad time? <wait for response>

Customer: No no what is it that you want? And make it quick I was about to step out

Salesperson: Absolutely, the reason we are speaking today has to do with "The Company" actually offering a great deal for a limited time to select clients like yourself.

Customer: Okay so?

Salesperson: Great question, a lot of clients I speak with across the nation let me know that their dealing with "x" issue. That's not you is it?

Customer: Yeah but I don't have time right now

Salesperson: I get that for sure, however the main thing I have been hearing from everyone is that it's really effecting their experience. How long have you been dealing with this issue?

Customer: Well that's why I signed up with you guys because it's been going on a while. I've gotten some help but not a ton

Salesperson: Okay and outside of that is it effecting anything else?

Customer: Yes my spouse is also seeing this issue and my children, who are older now are really seeing the problem and share it on social media.

Salesperson: Are your chidlren now parents themselves? Do you have grandchildren?

Customer: Yes I have two grandchildren, one is 7 the other is 6

Salesperson: Awwee what are their names?

Customer: Thing 1 and Thing 2

Salesperson: Oh wow! And you said they were going through this as well? You know what I'll make it my mission to get this resolved not only for yourself but for them as well fair enough?

Customer: Yeah that would be fine

To Be Continued.

Please use this if needed to practice. You can copy the script by itself as well if needed 😊

Bold, Sales Bold

Now before we continue why would I sit here and write "uhhh who?" at the beginning of the script? This is because in reality a lot of companies us salespeople work for are smaller businesses who may have been around for a while or a start up however both lack visibility and so the onus falls back on us to represent the entire company experience in that present moment, hence the reason rapport building becomes so critical.

Also did you know that the average over-the-phone sales call only goes for roughly 4 minutes whether it is successful or not?

Rapport Technical Terminology Breakdown:

In the script we went through a few things that you may have caught or may be not. I want to point three of them out so you can use them for yourself to close deals from the very start.

"Did I catch you at a bad time? <wait for response>"

This is called a "negative reversal" which is uncommonly used in our modern sales world. What is does is establish consent to continue with the conversation. Did you know that in order to build rapport you require consent from the other person? Let's continue

"Customer: No no what is it that you want? And make it quick I was about to step out"

Is your inner salesperson familiar with the notion that clients/prospects have their own script or lines they are ready to use on sales people? Can I share that some prospects have been sold to longer than some salespeople have been in sales?

For these reasons we can suspect that some prospects use whats called a "smokescreen" which is different than a rebuttal. Essentially a smokescreen, in this context is usually used at the beginning of a sales call as a tactic to end the phone conversation. The most common way to get past it is to continue on with what you were going to say as if they do have time to hear it so to keep a consistent pleasant, professional tonality.

"Customer: Okay so?

Salesperson: Great question,..."

This is simply paying a compliment but its timing reveals your patience as a person which may seed reciprocity later on in the sale. The tonality in the conversation from our "Sales Person X" also plays a huge part in rapport building. These aspects will be covered in further detail in a future blog. Us these three technical breakdowns to analyze the rest for yourself and your team. I wish you success on your rapport building pursuits!

Have more questions? Book a call with me or leave a comment to dive deeper into the areas that weren't covered.

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