- Would you like to build better rapport
with your customers and prospects,
so that way, next time you're having that conversation,
they just want to have that conversation with you,
they want to hear from you, they want to listen to you,
and they want to answer your questions.
The better you have a rapport with a customer or a prospect,
the more likely they're going to be eager to actually engage
in that conversation,
and the less likely they are to treat you
like just another vendor.
So in this video,
I'm going to show you seven counterintuitive tips
to build rapport with your customers.
Check it out.
(slides clicking)
(air whooshing)
Number one, stop pitching them.
This is really a key change that any top rep has made,
which is that we need to stop pitching our prospects.
If prospects feel guarded,
if they feel like anytime they're talking to us
we're just going to be pitching them on the next thing,
they're not going to want to hear from us.
Just put yourself in their shoes.
Imagine if you had a friend who sold something to consumers,
and every time you were with them,
all that person wanted to do was pitch you
on buying their product.
Would you wanna see that person very much?
No.
So we've got to stop pitching people all the time,
and instead, flip the script to focus on them,
to understand what they actually care about
and what actually matters.
And so that way, when it comes time
to actually presenting a solution,
we're not just pitching them on something,
but instead, we're actually presenting
a solution to their problems,
which they're going to be much more interested to see.
So the second we stop pitching, immediately we start
to improve that rapport-building process.
Because if they feel like you're really salesy,
and you're like the guy
or the salesgal that's always pitching,
they're not going to feel great about you.
And so the rapport is gonna be really low.
Number two, research everything you can.
The more you know about your prospects,
the more they're going to feel
that sense of rapport with you.
And this, again, just makes logical sense.
If you walk into a meeting,
and you know every detail about your prospect,
about their company, about their challenges,
about what they tweeted last week,
or what they mentioned on that LinkedIn group,
they're going to say,
wow, this person really does their homework,
and they're immediately going
to feel more positive towards you.
Not to mention, you're going to have all of this information
that you can use to just naturally build rapport.
So this isn't just about when you're in their office
and you see a picture of the Boston Red Sox.
You're not just saying, oh, I'm a Boston Red Sox fan, too.
But instead, if you're looking
at what's on their LinkedIn profile,
and you're really understanding what's going on,
and you know the last company that they worked at,
you can just slip that in as a reference when you're saying,
you know what, I noticed that you worked at company XYZ,
and given your role there and then your role here,
here's how I think we could start
to look at it a little differently, right?
Now, you're not just saying something
to say I did research on you,
but you're working it into the conversation.
And when you do that, you're breaking the pattern.
And they're saying, wow,
this person has done their homework.
They know things about me, and that's cool.
And I'm going to feel much better about them.
That's how we start to use research
as a way to build better rapport.
Number three, engage with insight.
When we're engaging in conversations by using insight,
by sharing information,
by sharing insight about their world,
we are immediately setting ourselves apart
from all of the hoards of other salespeople
who are just focused on the benefits
and the features of their products.
Instead, by starting the conversation
around insight around their world,
now we're demonstrating that we are an expert.
We are that person who's almost like a doctor
who's going to be solving their challenges,
and immediately the wall comes down.
So when we can actually engage prospects
by sharing insights on their industry,
unique perspectives on what's going on in their world,
or what we're seeing happening
with other competitors in their world,
now they're going to be interested to say,
you know what, I wanna hear what this person has to say
because I'm actually learning something.
I'm actually getting a sense
that this person really knows what's going on.
And once we are seen as the expert,
immediately rapport-building goes way up.
Number four, learn about their challenges.
So this isn't just starting a conversation
by saying I wanna learn about your challenges,
or let me pick your brain
about what's going on in your world.
No, no, no.
We're going to first start by engaging
by presenting some very quick pieces of insight,
and then we're going to use that insight
to then engage them in that conversation
around their challenges.
So maybe we present some ideas
on what we see happening in the industry,
and then you ask a question
like did any of those issues ring true to you?
And now they start talking,
and that's where we start to dig into their challenges,
and that's where we start to dig deeper and deeper.
So we've presented some insight, so we seem like an expert.
And then we're focused completely on them,
and we're learning about their challenges.
And when people feel like we're interested in them,
rapport goes way up.
Instead of being the salesperson who's just pitching,
pitching, pitching, trying to sell all the time,
we're focused on them.
You don't have to be enthusiastic.
You don't have to be high energy.
Just focus on them.
Number five, mirror them.
Now for years, I had talked about mirroring
as a very physical manifestation
where we're actually mirroring
what they're doing physically.
But the data has become much more mixed on that.
And really, what mirroring is today
is verbally mirroring them.
And so when a prospect says something that's important,
we simply want to mirror the last few words that they said.
So we're literally repeating back to them
the last few words that they said.
So let's say a prospect says, you know what,
we're seeing everything is changing in our industry.
You would then respond with everything is changing
in your industry as a prompt to get them to keep going.
So what it's doing is twofold.
One is it's showing that you're really actively listening.
You're really focused on what they're saying.
And so they just said everything's changing in our industry,
and so you're acknowledging that you understood
and that you heard it,
and then you're prompting them to continue.
You've gotta stop talking after you say it
and get them to keep going.
And within a conversation, it's going to sound very natural,
and it's going to, again, show that you've listened
and to prompt them to keep going.
Number six, label their experience.
This is a similar piece to mirroring,
but instead, we're going to be essentially labeling
what they are probably feeling
as a result of what they've said.
So let's just say you're talking to a prospect,
and they're saying, yeah, everything's changed
for our operations lately.
Things are pretty crazy.
So to label that experience,
you're basically going to be sharing your interpretation
of what they're telling you big picture.
So when you label, you might say something
like it sounds like things have been really crazy
at your organization lately prompting them to then say,
yeah, it's just been wild, right?
And so we're labeling what they're likely feeling
or what they're experiencing, and that is going to, again,
show that we've really been focused on what they've said,
and we can basically interpret back to them
what we've heard.
And now they are much more engaged
and they feel like we understand them.
That's how rapport goes way up.
Number seven, present only to their challenges.
This is so important
because so many sales reps wanna present every bell
and whistle of their offering.
And the reality is, is that your prospects,
not one of them needs every single thing that you offer,
literally not one.
There are always going to be things
that are more important to them
around what you actually offer.
And so if you have done a good job
during that discovery conversation
to understand what they really care about,
what they really need,
and what the challenges that are most pressing to them,
then you can present only to the challenges
that they've mentioned.
So you're only going to focus on the part of your offering
that actually solves those challenges.
When you are presenting only to their challenges,
now what you're basically saying
is I understand what you've told me.
And you don't have to say that.
But you're basically conveying that
by only presenting what they actually care about.
And so you're not throwing out a lot of possible land mines
where they're gonna be like, oh, yeah,
you know what, we don't really need that,
or you know what, I'm gonna have to bring other people
into the other conversation
if you're gonna be talking about that, right?
We wanna avoid all of those land mines,
instead, only presenting the solutions to their challenges.
And so we're gonna be avoiding a lot of land mines,
and at the same time, we're building more
and more rapport throughout the sales process
by showing, hey, I get you.
I get what's going on, and my solution is catered
and geared directly toward what you care about.
Rapport goes through the roof.
So there are the seven counterintuitive tips
to build rapport with your customers.
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