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Rapport is important to build with your clients, in fact, it is a critical part of every business relationship.
. A rapport is a relationship of mutual trust or affinity between people. This is important for every single sales person to develop because this is where it starts. For you to be able to sell anything, a customer or client has to put themselves in your hands. In order for them to buy, they have to trust you. They have to trust that you are genuinely interested in helping them. They have to trust that you are being honest about the cost. They have to trust that they will actually benefit from what you will present to them.
That’s a lot of trust they have to have for someone that they have never met.
Often times you only have a few minutes to guide them down the road of good rapport. There are two main reasons that rapport is essential to the sales process. The first is credibility. Having good rapport automatically gives you and your product credibility. Of course, credibility is a double edged sword. If you have good rapport, then your credibility goes up, but in order for you to have good rapport, you also have to be credible. It is tricky to build up both, but once you do, your clients will trust you more, and thus the product you represent.
This of course brings us to the second reason you need good rapport; control of the conversation. Unfortunately, clients generally do not have a clue as to what it is they really want. What they do have is an excellent insight into what it is they want accomplished. This is not to say that the client is stupid, quite the contrary. You just wouldn’t expect a mechanic to be an expert in life insurance, and you wouldn’t expect a doctor to know everything about furniture. Their expertise just lies elsewhere; which is why they come to you. If you obtain control of the conversation, it is easier for both the client and yourself to get their problems solved. You can guide them towards the information you really need without them realizing it, thus saving time and their ego. Without controlling the conversation, customers may as well do it all themselves, which means you are out of a job.
So you must be asking. “When do you build up rapport”? Surprise! From the moment they walk in until the moment after they leave, you are already building rapport. It is necessary to constantly work at building a good rapport, because like any relationship, it takes work to maintain.
The best ways to build a rapport are also the best ways for starting any relationship. Of course every salesperson should be confident, amicable, and most importantly knowledgeable in their product. Also, never lie, ever.
Let me say it again: Never lie, ever.
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