During my sales coaching with Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, & Electrical technicians, we often discuss how service professionals can improve their sales performances in the field. One thing I always stress is the fundamental skill of “Building Rapport” with the customer. Without really giving it much consideration, I tend to quickly graduate from coaching on this skill and move on to coaching more advanced sales and customer service skills.
It’s come to my attention that I may need to provide some additional clarification of “Rapport.”
So, here are the essential components of Rapport and some free sales coaching on how you can master this powerful sales skill!
First off, let’s establish why Rapport is so important in sales:
- Rapport creates trust.
- Rapport makes the customer fond of you. (They “like” you.)
- Rapport creates respect for you.
- Rapport creates loyalty to you and your company.
The automotive sales trainer, Joe Verde would say, “Consumer studies conclude that 71% of people do business with people they like, trust, or respect.”
Next, let’s define the word, “Rapport.”
- Ask Open Ended Questions
- “Who, What, Where, When, & How.”
- Avoid asking “Why” as this question tends to put people in a position to defend their reasoning. That’s not good for building rapport or making sales.
- Open ended questions get the customer talking and sharing more information with you.
- According to Harvard Neuroscientists, Diana Tamir and Jason Mitchell, talking about oneself is actually stimulating and rewarding. People love to talk about themselves. So, let the customer talk!
- “Who, What, Where, When, & How.”
- Use “Active Listening”
- Active listening means demonstrating to the customer that you are in fact listening by repeating back a portion of their response to your question or by expressing a conclusion based on the customer’s response.
- Technician: “So, how long have you lived here Mrs. Jones?”
- Customer: “We moved here in 1974 when my youngest daughter was 2.”
- Technician: “Oh wow. So you’ve raised the whole family in this home then?”
- Active listening means demonstrating to the customer that you are in fact listening by repeating back a portion of their response to your question or by expressing a conclusion based on the customer’s response.
- Express “Empathy” When The Customer Shares Bad News With You
- This means “putting yourself in their shoes” and expressing an understanding of how they must be feeling.
- If you’ve had a similar experience, you can feel free to share that as well.
- “I’m so sorry to hear about that. I can imagine this/that situation must be very (frustrating, upsetting, inconvenient, etc.)”
- “I’m so sorry to hear about that. I can somewhat understand how you must feel. I’ve been through something very similar…(insert short story)…”
- Sharing similar experiences and stories can help create “common ground” between you and the customer. The more common ground you have, the more the customer will like and trust you.
- Be Authentic
- People like people who are genuine and not “phony” or fake.
- Don’t lie to make a sale.
- If your sister doesn’t have that make and model of water heater and “absolutely loves it”, don’t say that she does.
- Bring your own experiences to the conversation.
- If you’ve never had an experience like one a customer shares with you, don’t make up a story or steal someone else’s story to establish common ground with them.
- What’s “common ground?” Click HERE to read a full article on common ground.
- Smile slower. Laugh naturally.
- Actual research from the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior concluded that people perceive slower smiles and softer laughs as more authentic and likable.
- Don’t force a smile or a laugh. Relax. Be natural.
- Slow Down And Take Your Time
- One way to create fondness is to spend time with the customer. Surely you’ve had a friend, significant other, spouse, partner, girlfriend, or boyfriend before in your life, right?
- That relationship probably took some time to develop and nurture, right?
- Time is valuable.
- When you invest your time with the customer, listening to their stories, getting to know more about them, etc. they will feel that they are valuable to you. (And they should be!)
- One way to create fondness is to spend time with the customer. Surely you’ve had a friend, significant other, spouse, partner, girlfriend, or boyfriend before in your life, right?
In conclusion:
- Ask “Who, What, When, Where, How” and let the customer talk.
- Listen intently. Don’t just wait to ask your next question.
- Be empathetic and care.
- Be yourself. Be real.
- Establish common ground.
- People like talking about themselves.
- People like people who listen.
- People like people who care.
- People like people who are genuine.
- People like people who are like them. (Read, Common Ground Creates More Sales)
- People do business with people they like.
Would you like to be notified when we post more helpful articles such as this?
Click HERE to Receive Our Blog Posts by Email!
About The Author:
Patrick is a Husband, a Father, a Modern Entrepreneur, the Founder of BizPAL.org, and the Creator of BizPAL’s Automated Recruiting Program.
He holds certifications in Social Media Marketing, Facebook Advertising, Inbound Marketing, Business Automation, and more!
Fun Fact:
Patrick was born and raised in a predominantly Amish community in Northern Indiana.
Got questions about the Amish? Ask Patrick!
Patrick is the son of a Career Tradesman and is extremely passionate about helping the Contracting industry grow and advance.
He has over 10+ years of experience in Customer Service, B2C Sales, Social Media Marketing, Sales Training and Coaching, Business Consulting, etc.
He has spent the past 7+ years working with Service Contractors from coast to coast to increase their Sales, boost their Profits, increase Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty, and improve their Operational efficiency by Building Creative Solutions and Implementing Innovative Ideas!
Follow BizPAL on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn today!