4 Ways to Instantly Build Rapport With Your Prospects

We find rapport a fascinating subject and think it’s critical to being successful in sales. From the moment you meet or start to talk to prospects and customers, they will be judging you. Simply put, they tend to be busy people so will decide very quickly whether it’s worth spending time with you. it is therefore, crucial that you engage in a way that develops a positive relationship which builds over time. Your goal should be to connect with your customers to build partnerships to achieve long-term success for both parties.

Rapport can be defined simply as shared and common interests between you and the prospect. Here are 4 ways you can build rapport between each other.

#1; Communicate Well

As with most things in sales, communication is key. How you come across at the start of the meeting will set the tone; from the words you use and how presentable you are, down to your body language. Do your homework before you enter your prospects offices. Research as much about the company and the people you’re about to meet as you can. Read industry publications and company reports, visit their website and check their social media. Get to know as much as possible as this will be greatly beneficial. You will be judged on the quality of the questions you ask and your listening skills. Don’t ask silly questions that don’t help the prospect, and listen as if your life depends on it!

#2; Use Empathy

When you meet prospects and customers they might not share the same thoughts, feelings and opinions as you. This is perfectly understandable, but by having the ability to empathise, you can sense the other people’s emotions and try to understand how they might be feeling. Really listen to their thoughts. This can go a long way to building a greater understanding between you both, which leads to greater rapport.

#3; Find Common Interests

To find common interests, it makes sense to use your research about them and their company to find out more about them, their issues and problems, their likes and dislikes, hobbies etc. We’d suggest starting by asking an engaging question about themselves - it’s less salesy and we’ve found people tend to like talking about themselves. It’s important that you build rapport quickly with the prospect by getting to the point, whilst also maintaining and building upon it. Be personable and try and establish a business friendship.

4; Match and Mirror

When talking and listening to the prospect it is beneficial if you can communicate on the same wavelength. One useful technique is to try to match and Mirror their verbal and nob-verbal language throughout the meeting. This can be anything from matching their speech, tone and voice volume to copying their motions, gestures, and body language in a subtle way. This ultimately builds trust and rapport, and if they mirror you back it raises the feeling of engagement that you’re having between each other.

So, how do you know if you’ve beginning to build rapport?

Rapport tends to begin when people feel relaxed in your company. There will be a few signs that this is starting to happen – the prospects defensive body language will start to ease; they will start to open up and talk more freely. As rapport builds, they will begin to nod at what you’re saying and over time, they will begin to talk more than you, which of course is exactly what you’re after. After all, how can you solve their problems if they’re not talking to you about them!

We hope you find this article useful and if we can help you in any way, or if you’d like to ask us any questions, feel free to give us a call on 01625 380820 or connect with us on LinkedIn. 

Selling bespoke complex technical products doesn’t have to be hard. As a B2B technical sales consultancy in Cheshire we’ve many years’ experience in technical product selling, primarily in the energy, engineering, and manufacturing industries. Our skillset includes proposal development, internal and external sales, project management and business development. We’re also great at leading and motivating sales teams to be their best.

Our sales training and coaching services can help you to put into practice the contents of this blog and we also offer a range of sales consultancy and sales representation services. So please get in touch for a free consultation. We’re here to help you!