One of our long time customers Bell Performance, shared this outline of ways for sales people to build rapport with contacts during an initial call (phone or face-to-face).
- Look for commonalities/overlapping interests
- Do your homework on their business and industry
- Ask good questions and listen to the answers with understanding them as the goal
- Be genuinely empathetic to their issues, time, attention
- Be perceived as an expert
- Don't sell - Educate them
- Be passionate and energetic
- Help them out - keep their best interest in mind
- Give a gift (e.g. doughnuts or a free demo)
- Have fun, be fun
- Set time and constraints and stick to them
- Third-party introductions break down barriers to connection
- Have a reason/purpose for the interaction
Pretty good list, I can't argue with any of them.
What about thinking of building rapport BEFORE you ever meet or talk to a prospect?
Bell Performance is excellent at this because they committed to Inbound Marketing over 5 years ago with the guiding principle being that they would be helpful and educate a market that was flooded with over hyped products and misleading marketing. They chose the high road and are reaping the benefits by setting the tone of every conversation in a helpful context BEFORE they ever talk to a prospect.
The Bell website is full of articles, white papers, infographics, e-books, charts, and other content that is designed from the perspective of the buyer and their issues. In other words Bell's marketing builds rapport with the brand that accrues to the sales people before they talk to a prospect.
Read more about our work with Bell Performance here.
Topics: Sales
