Liberty Capital’s Five Sales Tips in Building Rapport with Business Owners

The way a salesperson usually approaches their prospects makes or breaks the deal. Most of the time, the prospects do not tell the salesperson what they are doing wrong, hence the salesperson does not know what he said or did to lose the opportunity. Therefore, it is important that every salesperson pays special importance to rapport building as that can help them achieve much more in their career. Below mentioned are a few ways salesmen can build their rapport with business owners.

Tip 1: Make sure you match vocally

One of the most important aspects that a lot of salesmen don’t deem important is matching their prospects vocally. This is regardless of whether you are directly communicating with someone in person or on the phone. It is important to note that each and every prospect has a particular vocal style. Either they are speaking too softly, or they are too loud or speak gently.

No matter what the case is, if you do not start the conversation with the correct vocal style, then you are starting off incorrectly. It’s better than the salesperson takes notes on how the prospect sounds and tries to match their vocal style. Or else the prospect is more likely to feel a disconnection and will put their walls up. According to many scientific studies, it has been proved that to get on the same page as someone and in order to build rapport, you need to match the other person vocally.

No one would like to work with someone with who they do not feel comfortable. If it is related to business and you’re not approaching your clients in a friendly and approachable manner, then chances are they won’t want to work with you again.

Tip 2: Match your prospects vibe

Another important thing when it comes to rapport building is matching the vibe of your prospects. The vibe can be referred to everything about you other than your voice. Notice how your prospect acts around you, does he/she make use of a lot of hand gestures? Move around quickly? Maintain eye contact? Or do they have a gentler approach and move and communicate slowly and deliberately?

Try to notice these aspects of the person you are dealing with and then match their vibe. People might assume that they are being themselves with their prospects, but in reality, the key is to not give them who you are. It is vital to be yourself but makes a few adjustments in order to match the other person’s vibe in selling stations.

This will help your prospect to feel comfortable and on the same page as you.

Tip 3: Break the Pattern

Another great piece of advice when it comes to building rapport is to break the pattern. So, what exactly does breaking the pattern mean? If we consider most selling situations, your prospect has probably already communicated with more than 19 salesmen in the course of a week, either in person or through a phone call. If your approach towards the prospect is just like the other salesman, then you won’t be able to get through to your prospect. Basically, if your method is even slightly similar, then your prospect will consider you to be just like other salesmen. The key to success is to appear different from your competitors. Hence, it is important that you approach your prospect with an utterly unique method.

As an example, most of the time a salesman usually starts a phone call with, “Hello, Martha! John Maverick here! How are you today?!” This method of approaching clients is very basic, trite and most of the time it makes them put their walls up immediately. Instead, try not to open the conversation in a sales manner. Next time you start a sales call, try to say something like “Hello, Martha! John Maverick here! How have you been?”

According to research, asking someone how they have been at the beginning of a sales call is much more effective when compared to other opening lines that salespersons use.

Tip number 4: Repeat and rephrase what your prospect says.

Another approach to building your rapport is to rephrase and repeat what your prospect says. According to research on sales, it has been proved that in order to make a prospect feel more connected to a salesperson, the salesperson can repeat and rephrase what the prospect tells them. This gives the prospect the feeling that the salesperson is actually listening to them and understanding what he/she is trying to convey.

For example, if your prospect says something like, “This might not be beneficial for me,” in return, you can say something such as, “Might not be beneficial for you?” and let the prospect continue further. The prospect might then continue, “Yeah, it might not benefit me because…” Hence this way you can make the prospect give you more insight and information on a situation.

Tip number 5: Use feedback loops.

Last but not the least, another great approach to building your rapport is through feedback loops. This method has also been proven scientifically and has been reported to help salesmen build a deeper level of understanding with their prospects. These loops help the best when you are presenting or when you have to talk for a minute or two on a certain topic, but you are trying to rope back the prospect into the conversation.

For example, if you have presented a certain topic or product describing its features, you can say something such as, “Natalia, this feature is sure to help you with problem A that you mentioned before. What do you think about it?”

The prospect will then continue to describe what they think about it and this will help you get the prospect’s feedback and help you ensure that you are on the right track. On the other hand, this will also help grab their attention.