How to Build Instant Rapport
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How to Build Instant Rapport - June 13th, 2007 Rapport is the ultimate key to selling. If you’ve got great rapport with customers, they’ll naturally want to buy from you, and every customer meeting tends to be more productive. If rapport is weak, every meeting is awkward and difficult, and making a sale becomes next to impossible. The foundation of rapport is the first impression. If you’re like most sales pros, you use some kind of icebreaker during that initial meeting to overcome the social awkwardness inherent in any face-to-face meeting between strangers. Unfortunately, the two most common icebreakers are ineffective when it comes to moving a sale forward. WRONG. A common icebreaker is throw out a neutral compliment about something in the prospect’s office, such as the family photo, the motivational poster on the wall, the view out the window, etc. That’s a dumb move because almost everybody who comes into that office for the first time has made that exact same remark. You just told the customer that you’re unimaginative and boring. WRONG. Another common icebreaker is to make a reference to something in the news, like a big win by a local sports team or a major world event. That’s a bit better, because if you truly share the same values and interests as the prospect, you’re on the way to building rapport. However, the rapport you’re building has nothing to do with the reason for your sales call. When you transition to “selling,” there will a jarring disconnect that leaves the customer with the impression that you were only kissing up. The biggest problem with these two icebreakers is that they suggest you haven’t bothered to do any research on the customer and are simply “winging it.” (Which — let’s be honest about this — is probably the case) RIGHT. Here’s a better approach, adapted from some pointers I got a couple of years ago from Dr. Earl Taylor, a master trainer for Dale Carnegie: * Step 1. Warm Initial Greeting. Deliver your initial greeting with the same graciousness and warmth that you would use to greet an honored guest in your home. When you welcome guests, you are typically glad to see them and you want them to feel comfortable and appreciated. The trick to delivering a warm greeting is to be truly grateful that you have this opportunity to meet the prospect and to be of service. * Step 2. Relevant Opening Line. Open the conversation with a remark that lets the prospect know that you have put some thought into the prospect and the prospect’s firm. Needless to say, this requires that you do some research prior to the meeting. At the very least, you should have checked the Internet for an overview of the prospect’s business and for any important biographical information about the prospect and prospect’s career. * Step 3. Natural Follow-Through. Continue with a question about the business or the individual that leads towards a productive conversation that moves the meeting to the next sales step. This is a natural segue because you’ve already placed the conversation in a business context, while still showing a interest in the customer. What’s more, you’re not wasting the customer’s time with remarks that have no relevance to your business relationship. Here are some examples: Customer: IT Manager. Initial Greeting: “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation with you.”
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Instant rapport building
Transcript of How to Build Instant Rapport
How to Build Instant Rapport - June 13th, 2007 Rapport is the ultimate key to selling. If youve got great rapport with customers, theyll naturally want to buy from you, an every customer meeting tens to be more !rouctive. If rapport is weak, every meeting is awkwar an ifficult, an making a sale becomes ne"t to im!ossible.#he founation of rapport is the first im!ression. If youre like most sales !ros, you use some kin of icebreaker uring that initial meeting to overcome the social awkwarness inherent in any face$to$face meeting between strangers. %nfortunately, the two most common icebreakers are ineffective when it comes to moving a sale forwar.&'()*. + common icebreaker is throw out a neutral com!liment about something in the !ros!ects office, such as the family !hoto, the motivational !oster on the wall, the view out the winow, etc. #hats a umb move because almost everyboy who comes into that office for the first time has mae that e"act same remark. ,ou -ust tol the customer that youre unimaginative an boring.&'()*. +nother common icebreaker is to make a reference to something in the news, like a big win by a local s!orts team or a ma-or worl event. #hats a bit better, because if you truly share the same values an interests as the !ros!ect, youre on the way to builing rapport. .owever, the rapport youre builing has nothing to o with the reason for your sales call. &hen you transition to /selling,0 there will a -arring isconnect that leaves the customer with the im!ression that you were only kissing u!.#he biggest !roblem with these two icebreakers is that they suggest you havent bothere to o any research on the customer an are sim!ly /winging it.0 1&hich 2 lets be honest about this 2 is !robably the case3'I*.#. .eres a better a!!roach, aa!te from some !ointers I got a cou!le of years ago from 4r. 5arl #aylor, a master trainer for 4ale 6arnegie78 9te! 1. &arm Initial *reeting. 4eliver your initial greeting with the same graciousness an warmth that you woul use to greet an honore guest in your home. &hen you welcome guests, you are ty!ically gla to see them an you want them to feel comfortable an a!!reciate. #he trick to elivering a warm greeting is to be truly grateful that you have this o!!ortunity to meet the !ros!ect an to be of service.8 9te! 2. 'elevant (!ening :ine. (!en the conversation with a remark that lets the !ros!ect know that you have !ut some thought into the !ros!ect an the !ros!ects firm. )eeless to say, this re;uires that you o some research !rior to the meeting. +t the very least, you shoul have checke the Internet for an overviewof the !ros!ects business an for any im!ortant biogra!hical information about the !ros!ect an !ros!ects career.8 9te! 3. )atural 006ustomer7 &arehouse =anagerInitial *reeting7 /I really a!!reciate that youre taking the time to meet with me when things are clearly so hectic.0(!ening line7 /Ill bet one of the reasons that youre so busy is that youre getting reay for that big reorgani?ation that was announce last week.00Basic Techniques for Building Rapport !! - +!ril 10th, 2007 Rapport building is the single most important aspect of our communication . In fact,all communication efforts can get futile if we do not have a rapport with our teammembers.Here is a nice article on "Basic Techniques for Building Rapport" from the web pagesof dummies.com . I hope all of you will like it."""""" """"" """" """"" """Having rapport as the foundation for any relationship means that when there are tough issues to discuss, you can more easily find solutions and move on. !ortunately, you can learn how to build rapport. Rapport happens at many levels. "ou can build rapport all the time through The places and people you spend time with The way you look, sound, and behave The skills you have learned The values that you live by "our beliefs "our purpose in life Being yourself Seven quick ways to sharpen your rapport!or starters, try some immediate ways to begin building rapport Take a genuine interest in getting to know what#s important to the other person.$tart to understand them rather than e%pecting them to understand you first. &ick up on the key words, favourite phrases and way of speaking that someone uses and build these subtly into your own conversation. 'otice how someone likes to handle information. (o they like lots of details or )ust the big picture* +s you speak, feed back information in this same portion si,e. Breathe in unison with them. -ook out for the other person#s intention . their underlying aim . rather thanwhat they do or say. They may not always get it right, but e%pect their heart to lie in the right place. +dopt a similar stance to them in terms of your body language, gestures, voice tone and speed. /espect the other person#s time, energy, favourite people and money. They will be important resources for them. The communication wheel and rapport building0lassic research looked at how live communication was received and responded to. His figures suggested that your impact depends on three factors . how you look, howyou sound, and what you say. His research broke it down as illustrated in the communication wheel here 11 per cent body language, 23 per cent quality of the voice and 4 per cent actual words spoken.0learly, first impressions count. (o you arrive for meetings and appointments hot andharassed or cool and collected* 5hen you begin to talk, do you mumble your words in a low whisper to the floor or ga,e directly and confidently at your audience before speaking out loud and clear*In terms of building rapport . you are the message. +nd you need all parts of you working in harmony words, pictures, and sounds. If you don#t look confident . as if you believe in your message . people will not listen to what you are saying.Rapport involves being able to see eye6to6eye with other people, connecting on their wavelength. $o much 782 per cent9 of the perception of your sincerity comes not from what you say but how you say it and how you show an appreciation for the other person#s thoughts and feelings.5hen you are in rapport with someone, you can disagree with what they say and still relate respectfully with him or her. The important point to remember is to acknowledge other people for the unique individuals that they are. !or e%ample, you may well have different political or religious views to your colleagues or clients, but there#s no need to fall out about it. It#s also likely that there are several choices about what#s favourite to eat for supper and you can agree to differ with your family on that one, too. Hold on to the fact that you simply wish to differ with their opinion and this is no reflection on the person. + person is more than what they say, do, or believe.Matching and mirroring5hen you are out and about in bars and restaurants, have you noticed how two people look when there#s rapport between them* 5ithout hearing the details of the conversation you can see it#s like a dance. &eople naturally move in step with each other. There#s a sense of unison in their body language and the way they talk . elegantly dovetailing their movements and speech. '-& calls this matching and mirroring.By contrast, think of a time when you#ve been the unwilling witness to an embarrassingly public argument between a couple, or a parent and child in the street or supermarket. :ven with the volume turned off, you soon feel what it#s like when people are totally out of synchronisation with each other )ust from their body posture and gestures. '-& calls this mismatching.;atching and mirroring are ways of becoming highly tuned in to how someone else isthinking and e%periencing the world. It#s a way of listening with your whole body. $imple mirroring happens naturally when you have rapport.5hat '-& suggests is that you can also deliberately match and mirror someone to build rapport until it becomes natural. To do this, you will need to match pace > and pace again before you > lead. &acing is how '-& describes the your fle%ibility to respectfully pick up and match other people#s behaviours and vocabulary, where you are actively listening to the other person. -eading is when you are attempting to get the other person to change by subtly taking them in a new direction. In business, companies that succeed in introducing ma)or change programmes do so in measured steps. This allows changes to gradually become accepted by employees. &eople are unwilling to be led to new ways of working until they have first been paced. listened to and acknowledged. The most effective leaders are those who pace their people#s reality first. 5atch effective salespeople in action and you#ll see how they master the art of pacing the customer and demonstrate genuine interest. They listen, listen, and listen some more about what the customer#s needs are, what they really want, before trying to sell them anything. &eople resent being sold to, but they love to be listened to and to talk about what#s important to them.Building rapport in virtual communication
it#s about># Ase people#s names more than in face6to6face meetings. +ddress questions to people by name and thank them for their contribution by name. +s you listen to the conversation, visualise the person at the other end of the phone line 7you may even like to have a photo of them in front of you9. 0ontinually summarise and check understanding of points and decisions. Re: Basic Techniques for Building Rapport !! - +!ril 10th, 2007 Improving Your Communication with !"(ne of the ma-or contributions ):@ has mae to !ersonal evelo!ment an life enhancement is its a!!lications to communication both internal an e"ternal. ):@ offers many !ractical techni;ues to allow us to engage in more meaningful interactions with those aroun us by limiting many of the barriers to effective communication. #his article will look at some of the ways ):@ can enhance our communication skills s!ecifically with others, an in oing so enhance the ;uality of our lives.6alle )euro :I)*%I9#I6 !rogramming for a reason, ):@ is focuse on the language !atterns involve in the way we communicate with ourselves an others. :anguage !atterns, s!ecifically the wors we usean how we use them have a !rofoun effect on our e"!erience of every ay life. &hen we have an e"!erience of any kin, then we give a label to that e"!erience, the label, or the wors we use A56(=5 the e"!erience. #wo !eo!le can have the same e"!eriences ay to ay, but one can label them DokD an onecan call them D+wesomeD an as a conse;uence one !erson will If not, think about it in a more e"ternal communication ty!e conte"t. 9ay someone has -ust given you their o!inion on something an you re!ly DIBm not sure I agreeD... 4o you think this woul make the !erson feel ifferently to if you sai D,ouBre &'()*D. Aoth re!lies have inicate the same meaning... you onBt agree with them, but the wors use create ramatically ifferent reactions an so greatly influence the interaction between the two !eo!le. (k, ok you get it, wors influence how we feel. 9o how can this knowlege hel! us in our communication with others>+nother significant as!ect of ):@ in relation to communication with others is the use of what are calle =eta =oels. #here are certain !atterns of s!eech that limit the way a message is communicate to a listener. If we are aware of these !atterns we can, as a listener, use our communication to clarify someoneBs true meaning an more effectively unerstan their !ers!ectives. 9ome e"am!les of these communication !atterns are7%niversal Fuantifiers+re wors like DalwaysD an DneverD. &hen someone says always or never they almost never 1see how common these are3 mean them literally, but when they say them they create the chemical reaction in their brains that woul occur as if it really were +:&+,9 or )5G5'. D an D&orse than who>D to gain greater unerstaning of the message being communicate.=aking JugmentsJugments are statements that inicate an o!inion or fact. #hings like DJohn isnBt very sociableD are consiere -ugments. #hese statements are usually taken as fact by most listeners when in fact they can be rather misleaing. &hose o!inion is it that John isnBt sociable> +n on what criteria is this base>%nless these factors are establishe, the statement DJohn isnBt very sociableD oesnBt really hol any weight. +gain by establishing whose o!inion the -ugments are an the reason it has been establishe, a better groun for effective communication is establishe.6om!le" 5;uivalence#his is a statement that assumes a relationshi! between two events that might not 1an very likely oesnBt3 e"ist. .ereBs an e"am!le7DJohn oesnBt like meD. D.ow o you know that John oesnBt like you>D D.e always says hello to everyone else in the room before me.D#his statement assumes a com!le" e;uivalence that John saying hello to you last is e;uivalent to him not liking you. (f course you have never aske him if that is the case so this might well be an incorrect assum!tion. #he way to clarify these is by asking D.ow oes this mean that>D an D.ow oes John not saying hello to you first mean that he oesnBt like you>D#hese are -ust a few of the subtle factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication between!eo!le. ,ou !robably notice that they a!!ly e;ually as much in internal communication. ,ou might iffuse some emotional intensity within yourself by reali?ing that the reason you are angry with that !erson is because you think he )5G5' oes what he is su!!ose to. %!on asking yourself D)ever>D you will see the situation ifferently, lessen the intensity of your emotional state an be better able to come u! with a !ositive solution.by7 +)4'5& .+)95)source7 htt!7HHwww.earthlingcommunication.co...amming$nl!.!h!
