In a world where it is hard to be the salesperson, be the customer.

My last article ‘In a post vaccine world, virtual selling will remain vital to business growth’ click to read I outlined my thoughts on how accepting the reality of virtual selling, and maximising the opportunity of virtual selling, were two completely different things. I then set out a selling process on how to succeed in selling when screen to screen. Finally, I talked about how it is not just about improving your own virtual selling skills, but it is also about how you need to make it easier for your customers to buy when selling over Teams.

Today’s article is the prequel to the that selling scenario, how to build rapport online.

With the advent of LinkedIn, networking moved online well before selling online over Teams did. And LinkedIn has done amazing things for businesses and careers. But it is not all upside, networking online, like selling online has one big drawback: It is harder to connect on a human level with people when they are two dimensional on a screen. You need to work hard to make sure you are interacting in a way that allows you to build genuine, meaningful relationships.

We all want to work with customers we know, like and trust. When building professional relationships with people online my three key words are: transparency, likability, and credibility. Transparency lets people get to know you, while likability reflects their interest in you and credibility builds confidence and trust.

In my experience most professional buyers prefer to wait before building rapport with a salesperson, they like to wait until they have clearly understood the value of the supplier to their organisation. So, if buyers intentionally wait to engage sellers, it is even more challenging to build rapport in those crucial early encounters. However, you never want to skip over building rapport, as this is what gets us on the same wavelength as our prospect.

We all have targets to achieve, and if like me you work in a competitive field. You will need to differentiate yourself from the competition by focusing on making human connection with prospects.

For some rapport building does not always come easily. However, all of us must actively practice these skills with every sales conversation. Let me walk you through five essential steps for building rapport with prospects, regardless of how long, short or complicated your sales process might be.

1. Watch and listen for verbal and nonverbal cues

When you and your buyer are mid-flow in conversation, whether in their office, over the phone or on Teams.  As a salesperson it is important to be in sync with the pace and tone of the buyer’s words. On screen body language is an important indicator of engagement, as are the little things like acknowledging the buyer’s comments and statement, using their name, and generally demonstrating that you are a good listener. To achieve a good level of rapport with your prospects and customers you have got to be “actively listening” to all their verbal and nonverbal cues with complete focus and adapting your own style to match.

Building rapport starts with your proficiency as a listener from the very first conversation, this to prove to your buyer that they have your complete attention.

2. In a world where it is hard to the be the salesperson, be the Customer

I say this a lot in my training…we all hate being prospected, our backs go up when we are being sold to and we have an urge to walk away when we a salesperson tries to close us. So, in a world where it is hard to be the seller BE THE CUSTOMER. When you engage with a prospective buyer, you do not need to be interesting to them to build rapport. Instead, you need to be interested in them and their objectives. In other words, you need to acknowledge their needs and demonstrate your concern, even your desire for solving them. Once you prospect sees you are on their side your relationship with them will grow stronger.

3. Try to move smoothly from one topic to the next

In each meeting you have with a prospective customer, you usually have a lot of ground to cover and moving from one topic to the next effectively becomes key to ensuring that your customer can follow your proposition. It is therefore important to provide context for what you are about to say or ask.  Also, you may want to use widely understood transition phrases that keep the conversation moving forward. Finally, you should always try to end the conversation with a call to action.

4. Look for opportunities to confirm how your offer aligns with your prospect’s objectives

If over time you nail point two and become the customer. You will find that your prospects will start to use you as a sounding board to share business problems and to get ideas for solving them. This is my preferred selling scenario, so to show that you are invested in this process, you want to confirm key elements and needs that your prospect shares with you as it also gives the prospect an opportunity to clarify or correct your understanding. The more you become the customer and the more you demonstrate that you understand what they say, the more your customer will see you are invested in their success. This will then in turn drive your own success.

5. Check for Acceptance to Ensure Agreement

Checking for acceptance confirms you stay aligned with the prospect on their path, plan, or process. In the past people talked about always be closing, when in affect ABC should stand for, always be checking/confirming. Asking follow-up questions to ensure your prospect understands your point. Regularly giving your prospect this opportunity does more than just improve interactivity —when your prospect repeats back your statement, you can confirm whether you and the prospect are aligned. If you are not aligned, you have more work to do. You might want to look in the mirror and ask, ‘am being the customer or am I being the salesperson?

Conclusion

To build rapport throughout the sales process, always listen at the beginning with full attention to your prospect, be the customer by showing your prospect empathy and respect, move effectively from one topic to the next, ABC…confirm understanding of what your customer has shared with you and check for acceptance to ensure you are on the same page with your selling strategy.

About me and how I can help your business succeed and close more often

With 30 years senior sales management experience, I am hip deep in foodservice supply chain. I am also committed to my mantra that PEOPLE. CHANGE. RESULTS. I am offering business leaders a free 30-minute consultation on how effective virtual selling will improve their PEOPLE, CHANGE how their customers view them and drive RESULTS.