How to Build Rapport in Sales?

Hello! Friends Welcome to Learn Vern!

As we have seen in the previous topic, “Eligibility Check “,where we have understood how to approach two particular individuals.

The first person is representative of the company, that person who can take decisions on the behalf of the company as signatory authority or immediate to signatory authority.

Today what we are going to learn under “Art of Sales Communication “ is “Rapport”.

If we talk about rapport , it’s like if you have a human body.

It is said ,“I love you from the heart”,”I feel bad from the heart “,”I am telling this from my heart and am not saying anything wrong “.

So all the emotions are related to the heart. Similarly if there is any heart of the conversation , then it is called Rapport.

Because here there are many emotions which you will represent on your own and will understand that of the others.

Right!

So for this the very first point or the most important point is “Compliment Them”.

Many a times person misconceptualizes the word complement as buttering which is a very common word in Sales.

Now the meaning of the word buttering is fake appreciation or fake compliment.

But we are not talking about these, we are talking about when we are genuinely complimenting someone.

Secondly when we are complimenting someone then a response will also be seen from that side as a compliment.

So firstly what are all the things that we are going to generalise that what are the things on which we can compliment.

First and foremost is “Attire”.

Now a genuine compliment takes place when you compliment the person about his/ her attire obviously when the person has seriously carried himself/ herself well.

Now, for example, I have put on a Kurta and being a business person, and I have a spot on my kurta.

And you say ,”Sir this kurta is suiting you so well!”

But I won’t take that as an appreciation but a taunt.

Now we are sitting together and so close and you can very well see the spot.

Right! So when someone compliments genuinely on your attire then everyone one likes it.

It is not specifically gender biased.It is not like that we can compliment some gender on their attire then only they will like it. That is not the case.

You can compliment someone like,”Sir, your dressing sense is very good.”

Right! Don’t be very specific.

Like ,”Sir your tie is very nice, the buttons on your shirt are very nice ,Ma’am your earrings are nice.” 

Don’t do this . Don’t do this.

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The way you are carrying yourself depicts that you look like a professional lady.

The way you have attired yourself, you look very professional.

The colour selection and colour combinations of your attire is really very nice.

This is the way you can give genuine compliments and in return, I am sure you will receive a “Thank you”.

So when someone is complimented in a genuine way and as the person knows that , then the person gets more interested in hearing and understanding the people on the other side.

Right! Everybody likes to be praised but that has to be genuine.

Then there is “Interior”.

Now again “To do and to not to do”.

If we see at the very first, the interior is seriously looking great.

You can compliment it.

In the Interior ,the colour combination is good,especially in the infrastructure I the table is looking good, the flower vase that is kept there is also good.

The fish aquarium they have is also nice.

Even the wall textures behind the colour combination is also nice.

We can talk about the entire interior part but within that interior if you see two or three wires hanging from above ,still to be fixed. And then Suddenly you say, “Sir,what a nice interior!”

Again I will not think it to be a compliment but a taunt.

So don’t do this.

Alright, then “Thought process, faster growth and longest dedication “, we are showing these two things together because if we talk about the thought process then, it is implying that, the way of thinking must have led to faster growth or longer dedication.

So if we talk about thought process then they might have such a thought process for which they are in this specific business or in a specific job.

So always appreciate the thought process and try to know it.

Like asking these questions,as an example, if you talk about faster growth,you can meet many young business people ,young employees who are holding many good positions.

You can ask them,at such a young age, let's take an example of young aged people Right! "At such a young age how have you managed to achieve such a position. "

What is the secret behind it? What is the hard work behind it?

So they will explain all the thought processes behind it that they have done what certain preparations and what specific studies they did.

I was focused on one type of thing only.

And the same thing if there is a business person then you can compliment that people prefer to make their establishment at a younger age and then take risk on the other hand you have taken the risk and established such an empire.

What was your thought process?

So I am sure that he will surely share what all things he did and everyone , anyone in the world, would like to share their success journey, to share their struggle journey with anyone who is genuinely interested and genuinely wants to understand.

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Even you can say that I want to understand and learn your ways.

The same goes with the aged person who is in the business from a long time and also who is in the same position or in the specific company from a long time.

So you can also ask that at an young age like me I have very less patience and it is difficult for me to stay at one place and also to think about a single thought process is also difficult for me for a longer duration of time.

So how have you shown your dedication in the same company, in the same position since such a long time?

Or you have been running a business since such a long time and I am sure that in doing so you have faced a lot of ups and downs so how did you stay strong?

 Teach me this.

So when you will talk about their growth, their dedication, and thought process, then of course they will like to genuinely share.

The secret to this is that you have already asked a question now the customer will start talking to you from his side.

The customer will start talking.

Right!

The person in sales is called best when he himself talks less and let's the client do the talking.

So this is one of those, you know, key aspects.

Right!

Then "Symbol of Inspiration".

Please state this , whenever I am speaking to you I am getting inspiration because of you.

If I am going to set up a new business in the future, I will keep in mind all the lessons given by you and if I ever think of giving up,then I will try to understand your longest dedication and how you stood up during your struggle, during your problem.

So always compliment people.

Then “Laugh with them”.

This is one of the most important aspects.

While building rapport this is the most important thing to keep in mind.

Like “We remember the saddest and happiest Moments of life “. Agree?

Like the happiest moments that happened to me till date, I will remember them and all the saddest moments of our life, I will remember them.

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In between them whatever those normal moments are happening, some will stay in mind and some will start fading and some of them I have already forgotten.

The happiest moments like, falling from bicycle for the first time,getting hurt and then laughing about that incident like bunking classes with your friends, going on a trip and even though the trip turned into disaster but still your enjoyment-These are all happy moments in which you have laughed with each other within in your friends circle.

And if you have sometimes wept with your friends ,these moments will be remembered by you clearly.

So in the same way, if you want to make this very conversation which took place between your customer, your client, memorable and to end on a positive note,then laugh with them.

Because for them even you are a moment which should be laughable for them and the memory which we can set in their core memory, can leave a first strong impression.

Second is “Laugh lights the atmosphere in the room”.Right!

Many times you will step into a cabin and you will not be able to know how their mood was, maybe there was a loss in the business, maybe they got a thrashing from the boss, maybe the day didn’t start well since the morning. Right?

We don’t know.In the world people pass through many kinds of pressure and challenges.

This is an environment. This is a very heavy environment where you can feel the vibe that this has got very serious.

So to speak the truth , when I was in sales I used to say directly,”Sir this isn’t looking that serious now”.

And then they used to laugh Right!and say “No, No ! Nothing like that . I was thinking something else “.

So,“Laugh lights the atmosphere in the room”.

When you use humour, they will feel good and they will also laugh and in such moments where you are sitting seriously and by saying this if they smile a bit then compliment him by saying,”Wow sir, you can laugh too?I am really happy to know that, till now I thought that you are a very serious person.”

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Right and we make it interesting when we avoid being boring.

Right ! If we are going to sell any topic , any product or service and if I want to make it interesting by not sticking to the topic and representing only the topic, but to make it more exciting I have to laugh with them too.

Then only I can make the moments interesting rather than boring.

Alright ! Next if we see it is “keep it short but effective “.

Whatever conversation you are having, keep it short and effective.

Let me give you a best example, “You have played pubg? no?”

If you have played shooting games then you have an option of many guns.

And any person who is standing quite far ,say, enemy and you have to kill him.

So what do you do to kill a person ,say, an enemy standing so far away?

We use ‘sniper’.

If we take a machine gun then I don’t know whether I can take a good, accurate aim or not.

And second is,the actual head shot you know which we have in game, if we kill them by using head shots then it can be done since it can be achieved by aiming from a longer distance.

So in the same way, Rapport is a trap.Right!

Rapport is like if the control goes to the hands of the other person then you will not have any control on him.

Right! Then he will keep on saying and you have to listen of course.

Right!

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If you don’t want this to happen then keep it short but very effective like to the point of a small compliment, to the point of a little laugh and very effective like the sniper which will hit as a headshot.

Right and this will not look like a machine gun asking fifteen to twenty questions, we don’t have to discuss much on fifteen twenty things. Right!

So keep it short but effective.

“Come to the point”

If in the middle of your conversation the other person tells you ,”Come to the point “,then that will be very embarrassing.

As you have given the introduction, taken your seat, done your eligibility check and you are keeping on talking on rapport but I have not reached the main topic yet, that is “Why we are here?”I am here for which product, service or concept.

Maybe they have an aligned meeting at the very next moment, then if they say “come to the point “, then it will become very embarrassing and I will wonder whether I have dragged the conversation too long.

“Have I become that much boring?”

No nothing like that.

Before they say “come to the point “, you come to the point.

That means the way you are taking the conversation forward, like rapport is built, they are smiling and the environment has turned light , then represent,”By the way sir,the reason I came is .”start your conversation.

“By the way sir, as you know our product “,”By the way sir,as you have heard the name of our company “

Right! Come to the point,stating the simplest phrase “By the way”.

This will act nicely as a bridge between a topic to topic.Alright!

We have aimed and now we talk about“Understanding the Context of Buyer”.

If we talk about the context of the buyer “Explore with open ended questions “.

Don’t ask questions that end with ‘yes no , ok, that is questions leading to small answers ,ending with yes no answers are not to be asked.

If I am asked “male or female?” I will choose male and female will take on female.

Right! But If I am asked,“How do you characterize yourself?”then I will try to get to more details.

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Right ! In the same way when you are asking the questions during rapport building then I will never ask “ whether this is your own business or family business? Or “ sir, how many years of experience do you have?” So they will straightaway answer the ‘year’.

If I rephrase as “But sir as I can see if I am not mistaken I have seen you since a long time and I have read about you and about your company and I also know that how many years your Company has been established for and I am sure that the starting phases have been difficult for you, and how have you set your mentality?”

This is an open ended question and it can have a broad answer.

Right ! and when he’s talking you need to show involvement by nodding your head and replying with compliments like “wow”, “that’s really great”.

Right then,”Sell reason and not the product”.

Always during the time of rapport we have never tried to sell a product to them but we need to know the reason behind it as during the rapport sessions he will leave certain hymns within his stories by relating to which you can sell your product or service.

Right so , try to sell with reason, don't try just to sell the product.

“Align the needs of the buyer”.

Try to understand their needs, whatever challenges they faced in their company or in their job profiles during the rapport.

And on the basis of this we will do need-based selling that this is the need and our product has all the capabilities to fulfill the needs.

So, That is the way you understand the context of a buyer.

Right, then “get ready for custom-made Biz talk”.

Now don’t keep it General.The general talks like, we have been selling the same product to everyone and so as you,We were providing the same services to all as you.

Nobody likes it.

So whenever you are having your presentation, we are always giving a specialised service , product or concept to them that we have to make them feel.

So “Prove it’s individualised modification “.

We need to prove to them and sound them that this is an individualised and modified product or service for them.

“Sir, according to your need we are going to put certain things and as per your need we are going to include certain services and we will involve certain things in your concept”.

Right! Now as an example as you can see here, if I need to get my clothes stitched specifically, there is a triple XL size which is the same for all so, how will the size triple XL look on me?

Maybe I will not be seen at all!

So , right! In the same way If only a single size is made for all, it will not fit all or neither will it be comfortable.

Like if I wear a medium size T-shirt and this size is made for all then it will be difficult for the people who are healthy to fit in.

So here we need to keep a very specific individualised approach and also we need to keep a customised approach also.

So that is all we got in Rapport.

As you know If you have any queries or comments, click the discussion button below the video and post there. This way, you will be able to connect to fellow learners and discuss the course. Also, Our Team will try to solve your query.

Up to now we have seen how to build rapport.

The next topic that we have is “Biz talk”.

We have already got a rapport, taken an introduction, made an impression but now we will come to the main topic that “how we are going to represent our sales, how we will represent our product ,service or concept”.

Alright! So see you next time.

Thank you.