The ultimate formula for building trust and rapport

As a start, lets have a short and simple exercise. Just for a while, imagine you are the buyer. It could be anything but for starters, lets say you are buying/renting a new office space for your business. You’ve talk to your friends and business partners and they recommend to you some brokers who could help you. Question, as the buyer/client; what are you looking for in that broker? What will make you trust the recommendation of the broker?

There are many answers for that. Some will say honesty or straight-forwardness or someone who is frank. Some will answer competency or the fact that he/she knows his/her stuff. Some might even want a broker who is more of an advisor than a salesperson. Credibility is also important. Of course, we also want someone who is knowledgeable…very knowledgeable about the market or industry. Someone who you feel and think has your best interest at heart. Presentable, anyone? The list goes on and on.

If we are going to look at the list, there is a pattern. In almost all the answers, there are two main themes that buyers and clients and prospects look for in a salesperson: someone who is honest and has the client’s best interest at heart AND someone who is competent and is good at what he/she is doing.

To borrow from marketer and business consultant Donald Miller, its all about empathy and authority. Buyers, customers, prospects, and clients look for authority and empathy in every seller (businesses and salespeople).

Empathy, as Donald Miller, describes it is letting them know we care about them and their well-being and that we understand what they are going through and their pains.

Authority, on the other hand, is about competency, that we can help them solve their problems, and that we know what we are doing.

In simple terms, for a salesperson to be trusted by a buyer, a salesperson (or a seller) needs to express empathy and demonstrate authority. Express empathy and Demonstrate authority. This is like the yin and yang of every salesperson.

Imagine if the broker in our example expresses empathy but seems to lack knowledge in what he is doing. He listens to you. He smiles. You really do feel he has your best interest at heart. But when you ask some industry specific question or any real estate law questions, he seems unsure of his answers. He is also not clear on the rules and regulations of the tenant or the building.

Question, would you have confidence in him? I think the answer is obvious. Although, in this day and age, an honest and caring salesperson is rare so we can give him some benefit of the doubt. But at the end of the day, we have little confidence in his answers thus we have little to no confidence in his sales presentation which means we ain’t gonna buy.

Imagine again that the broker on the above example really looks presentable. She talks really well and she looks like she knows her stuff. She is a licensed realtor after all. She knows all about the real estate laws in the country and even the building code. She knows the market and the industry. She even has lots of knowledge on how bank loan works. She is very competent. But then something does not feel right. She is pushy and aggressive. She doesn’t feel like she cares about what you are thinking. It seems she does not listen and always interrupts. There is also a feeling that as if she is hiding something or she is not disclosing something to you.

Question, would you trust her? Are you willing to buy or rent from her? Well, I think we have an answer.

So here is the point here: both authority and empathy are important. Lack one and everything falls down. Without authority, the buyer or client cannot trust us because we might be giving them a wrong answer or they might receive the wrong solution which could be very costly. At the same time, without empathy, the buyer or the client cannot trust us because we might be cheating on them and we might be working against their best interest which is very costly AND that we might not understand their problem.

According to Donald Miller, expressing empathy is about: letting them know we care about them, letting them know we understand their problems and that we feel their pain, and that we understand what they are going through. In short, its about establishing connection with the prospect. This is all about the soft skills: being empathetic, the art of listening, building rapport, probing the prospect, and most of all having that sincerity to care about their needs. One book really dives deep on this topic. How to Win Friends and Influence People. We recommend you to read that book.

The other half which is demonstrating authority is about being competent, letting them know we have authority to help solve their problems, that we know what we are doing, and that we have expertise. Ultimately, the buyer will ask two questions about the salesperson: can they help me in my life/business AND do they have my best interest at heart?

Empathy and authority build trust.

Of course, having empathy and authority are not enough. You might really care about the prospect but if the prospect does not feel the same way, it is of no use. The same with authority. You might have all the knowledge in the world yet if prospects don’t see it that way, it is of no use. That is why there are action verbs on it.

“Expressing” empathy. “Demonstrating” authority.

Of course we are not saying that we should pretend because pretending we have all these will ultimately be doomed. But the thing here is we need to develop the skills to be able to express empathy and demonstrate authority. Faking it til you make it might be a good proposition but it will ultimately fail. If one really has no authority or no knowledge about the industry, mabubuking din siya. If one is self-centered and only wants to profit, when crisis comes, mabubuking siya. The worst thing? If nabuking sila, negative balance na yung trust sa kanila.

Wait, where is honesty in all these? Honesty and integrity, ladies and gentlemen, is not is a trait that a good salesperson has. IT IS A TRAIT EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE!!!ESPECIALLY IN BUSINESS!!! It is not a trait that you can have, but one that YOU SHOULD HAVE! If a person is questionable in terms of honesty and integrity, NO ONE should every trust him.

Empathy + Authority = Trust.

That is what building rapport is all about!

P.S. Frustrated with almost closing the sale pero sa huli wala pa rin? We have a FREE sales course for that.

Just simply sign up and we'll share it with you. Its FREE.

SIGN UP HERE

SIGN-UP NOW and start closing more sales. Its FREE