7 Tips For Building Rapport In Sales

When starting out in sales, an important skill to get competency in quickly is the art of effective rapport building, with both prospective and existing customers. Experienced salesperson often know how positive and negative rapport can impact new and existing business but spend little time improving their relevant skills. What exactly is rapport building though? Why is it important? And how can you build it effectively? For the season salesperson, why spend time honing the relevant skills?

Put simply, rapport is a harmonious relationship between two (or more) parties who trust one another other, understand one another and communicate clearly to one another. For salespeople, this is the foundation of mutually beneficial engagement and is required for any two businesses to collaborate effectively. Without rapport between the proposed provider goods/services and those receiving them, it’s unlikely a working relationship will ever be established. Yet, if one is, it will be painful for both parties.

Developing the art of rapport building is crucial for new salespeople as it is pivotal in building the trust required between two parties before any concerted investment in time or money is made. Given the changes in ever-developing trends in culture, mentality and technology, the art of rapport building is a fluid one which develops with time and is influenced by the people, trends and culture of any time period. For instance, Millennials are often thought of as having a different mindset and set of wants as Baby Boomers. Therefore, experienced salespeople must continually develop this skill in order to keep up with the trends and be able to build rapport with the ever-evolving workforce.

Here’s 7 tips that will help you develop a foundation in the art of rapport building and can be employed with any type of individual:

1) Be sincere

While you’ll aim to win every viable opportunity, you need to believe that victory will come through displaying a genuine desire to help and following through on that with provisions of information, assistance and insight when the customer requires.

You need to be sincere in your willingness to help your customer change for the better. Do not appear to do so but, in truth, care little about the fact that what you’re promising cannot be fulfilled or is unrealistic. Instead, be honest when you don’t think you can help and be enthusiastic when you know you can. You’ll get burnt when you’re not being genuine which will result in lost opportunities and a poor reputation – the latter which will stick with you way beyond any commissions from deceitful sales have been spent.

Customers will pick up on your sincerity and, whether they buy from you or not, will grow to trust you and see you as a useful contributor of relevant information. Having a network that thinks of you this way will help build pipeline in the future through referrals and contacts moving to new companies which could use your help.

2) Don’t waffle

While there’s an abundance of communication styles in business, there is one approach which is universally appreciated and understood: being brief, clear and direct.

It can take a while to recognise the distinction between this approach and being curt and arrogant, especially as politeness is crucial in building rapport. The distinctions are further blurred due to the susceptibility of digital written communications being so easily misinterpreted. Therefore, when communicating, keep in mind the goal of your communication and what points you need to address. Ask yourself, is my message clear here? Have I addressed all the points/questions/concerns clearly and concisely? Could this phrase/word/sentence be interpreted incorrectly? If so, what should I use instead?

As such, it can take a while to adopt this approach with confidence and assurance that you’ve done it right. A good way to identify when you’ve too much waffle in your writing is to proof-read communications (emails, articles, letters etc.) and remove any filler words and phrases. Studying the art of Laconic speech helps with this, although you don’t want to be too Laconic in your language as the Laconians often had their communications interpreted as arrogant and rude, despite the undeniable clarity in which their message was portrayed. Try it out first on all internal communications to gauge how responses change. Tweak the necessary and then employ in your external communications. You can also use tools like Grammarly to help with this.

3) Adapt to styles & cultures

You’ll see below that being yourself is crucial to building effective rapport, but that’s not to say you shouldn’t adapt to your surroundings in order to increase your chances of success. There are both an individual’s communication & operational style you’ll need to consider, as well as the culture of their business and the country they’re operating in.

You shouldn’t change yourself to fit their culture but you should adapt the way you act and respond in order to best align with that culture and maximise the opportunities it presents. For example, if someone is a pragmatist, don’t give them reams of information and material when they ask for some relevant info – that may work with an analyst but not a pragmatist. Instead, research their exact personal and business needs and provide the most relevant and concise information accordingly.

Furthermore, consider geographical practices that can impact your behaviours. For instance, if you’re in the UK and working with potential customers in France, be mindful that their lunch hour(s) is almost sacred, and lunch is often state subsidised in the form of food vouchers. Therefore, arrange meetings well before or well after lunch to ensure maximum engagement.

Research different personality types and cultural influences which can influence your communications and the way you do business. Put your findings into practice and learn from the responses and reactions you receive – both positive and negative.

4) Find common ground

People like to work, collaborate and have fun with those who are like themselves. The more information you can find out about your prospect’s interests, beliefs, values and hobbies, the more likely you are to find some commonality. With this you can quickly build rapport if you make a connection around that commonality (note, this shouldn’t be your only connection but will be one that can strengthen the overall relationship).

Often you can find relevant information on one’s LinkedIn profile, their social media profiles or when meeting them you could observe something in their office or on their person which resonates. There’s a whole host of potential connections, including if you attended the same school or university, enjoy the same sport or hobby or live in the same area as one another. These are all conversation pieces which can help you find common ground and build a stronger relationship.

5) It’s not always what you say, it’s how you say it

7% of meaning is in the words that are spoken. That means an overwhelming 93% of your meaning is made up of non-verbal communication which can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways, both consciously and subconsciously. This is very important to know for all types of communication, not least business communications, because you can quite easily send the wrong message and get a negative reception if you’re unaware of what other components make up your meaning besides words.

Eye contact, body posture, gestures, tone, facial expressions and distance all contribute to the shape of the overall meaning in your messages, and each of these components can be interpreted in different ways depending on the individual and their understanding of you, your motives and the science behind body language. Therefore, it’s important you consider these points and learn about how they influence your communication. Read books and watch talks on the subject to build your understanding. Apply your learning, assess and refine.

For example, it’s common practice for people to stand and walk around when making business calls as it opens the lungs and brings a degree of energy to your tone and pace that is difficult to achieve when sitting. Amy Cuddy’s insightful TED talk on body language highlights the power of gestures and posture in preparing for and delivering important messages and presentations.

Crucially, you need to be mindful of the channel of communication as that can also significantly influence the potential ways a message can be interpreted. For example, in email and text, there is no way to assess the 93% of non-verbal factors that influence meaning. Therefore, your choice of words, length of sentences and use of grammar/punctuation can significantly influence the way your message is interpreted. As such, a good approach is to be concise, polite and articulate in emails/texts, leaving the more detailed points of discussion to be handled over the phone or in person.

6) Don’t try to make friends but do express genuine interest

It can be difficult to define the line between being over-friendly (and almost clingy) and being surprisingly professionally responsive and helpful. The main difference lies in whether you provide value (e.g. information, insights, ideas) in all your communications with customers. If you’re conversations are geared around getting to know the individuals personally and using personal relationships to make progress, you may win some deals but you will not establish yourself as a key individual within someone’s professional network. You’ll also lose out on more deals than you’ll win. “Checking-in” or “having a chat” with customers is of no value. The people you’re selling to don’t need new friends, they need ideas and insight that will drive their business and career forward.

Instead, be known as the insightful professional who is polite, knowledgeable and worthwhile requesting opinion of. You’ll gain people’s trust and build rapport rapidly, while closing more deals and building a large network of valuable contacts. This approach will accelerate your career progression faster and make you more attractive to other potential employers too.

I’m not saying you should avoid making friends. In fact, you’re likely to meet people through sales that’ll become close friends. It’s great but don’t seek it out, let it come naturally.

7) Be yourself

The unique selling style you’ll develop and hone over the years is a reflection of you as an individual, your morals, knowledge and beliefs. Use that to your advantage when communicating and let your individualism shine through. It’s often the case that you’ll share values, hobbies or beliefs with customers and that will help strengthen your relationships. After all, people buy from people they know, like and trust.

You shouldn’t change yourself for the sake of a prospective customer, however, if you analyse closed lost deals over time and see that your pitfalls are in the areas of communication and rapport, you may need to take a deep look at yourself to assess whether it’s your individualism that’s at fault here. If so, making the necessary changes to be a better person will have a profoundly positive impact on your life and all your relationships, as well as your business relations and overall success.