Building Rapport in sales and customer service

Building Rapport Worksheet

Here’s a tool to help you establish better relationships with your customers.

Building Rapport

Things to remember about the importance of building rapport in a sales context:

> Your customers are buying a product but they are also buying you.

> Your success is driven by the human relationship that you develop with prospects—earning their trust and affection.

> Under the best of circumstances, the sales process can be bumpy, so a good relationship will help you smooth over differences and close financial gaps.

> Other things being equal, customers will buy from the salesperson that they like the best.

> To best serve customers, you need to know about their outlook, temperament, and values.

> The better you build rapport, the more you will sell.

If building rapport is so important, why do so many salespeople fail to do it well?

> The customer gets you off track by controlling the interaction and focusing the conversation exclusively on product attributes or price.

> You get off track by focusing too much on product or price instead of developing the relationship first.

> You get excited or feel rushed so you hurry through the steps to the sale and don’t take the time to get to know your customer.

Tips for building rapport:

> Be genuinely interested in other people. Most folks can tell whether or not your interest is sincere. If you’re not interested in their show poodle, for example, maybe you can converse about your mutual interest in dogs generally.

> Take your time. You’ll get to know someone a lot better if you take a few minutes to engage in a pleasant conversation rather than hurrying through a few perfunctory questions.

> Look for things you have in common. We are more interconnected than we realize. Perhaps you both went to the same university, or hail from the same state, or share an interest in history. We like people who are like us, so find out how you are alike by…

> Asking a lot of questions. “I see you have a poodle pin on your sweater…do you have a poodle? Oh really? Well, I’ve never had a poodle but I love my German Shepherd.”

> Laugh and get your customers to laugh. You don’t need to be a comedian, but be lighthearted and self deprecating. When people laugh, they relax.

> Beware of personal questions and assumptions. It’s best to keep things light at the beginning.