Rapport Knowpia

Rapport

Why is it Important?

Finding, leveraging, and building on emotion is key to the success of a benefit type of sale. Rapport is the power behind it.

What is Rapport?

Rapport is a characteristic of a relationship where there is a high degree of empathy, attention, and shared understanding and expectations. Rapport is enhanced when the salesperson and the customer are co-members of the same group.

Rapport aids in persuasion and helps increase consumer satisfaction.

Reactance

Inpsychology literature, the idea that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction has been termed ‘reactance’. Reactance theory is a social psychological theory that explains human behavior in response to the perceived loss of freedom in an environment. Reactance is thought to be experienced to help reestablish freedom and control of a situation.

Okay, so what does that mean? It means that the person who feels pushed will react by adopting or strengthening an opposing view or attitude, resisting pressure to conform.

The bottom line is we all want to buy, but we don’t want to feel sold. As a salesperson, clarify the value of what you have to offer, then get them to affirm the value. Getting your customer to verbalize the value your product or service brings to them is key to cementing the value in their mind.

Between the two of you—you may be the expert, but they’re opinion matters most to them.

How do we deal with reactance?

The answer is straightforward: Do not remove the freedom in the first place. As soon as you, the salesperson, detect reactance (non-compliance), give the caller more freedom. Give them more space, step back or de-escalate the pressure you’re applying. Retreat to rapport.

Building Rapport

How do we build rapport? What techniques can we adopt to ensure we connect with a customer? We create rapport instinctively, it is our natural defense preventing conflict, which most of us will try hard to avoid most of the time.

Rapport is similar to trust, and you can often build trust and rapport simultaneously. However, building rapport focuses more on establishing a bond or connection.

To better understand what building rapport looks like, watch two friends talking and see how they sub-consciously mimic each other’s non-verbal communication. We can do something similar in our sales. Listen for their verbal cues—slangs and catch phrases and use those phrases back to them.

Also, recapping and clarifying what has been said is a useful tactic. Match their words when doing so. Not only will it confirm that you are listening, but will also give you further connection by emphasizing similarity and common ground. This is important.

Find Common Ground

Think of how comfortable you might feel if, while living thousands of miles from where you grew up, you met someone from your hometown. That sense of connectedness creates an instant rapport between two people! It is so important for us to understand and be aware of the territories we cover. The Internet is an invaluable tool in learning about current or upcoming local events, tourist attractions, sports teams, etc. When you know you’re going to be speaking with someone from a specific locale, learn about that area before you meet.

When speaking to a customer, do your best to find something you have in common or that you can speak to using their area and local attractions to let them know you are familiar with their area.

It is so important to be familiar with landmarks, history and current events located in the customer is from. This is such an easy rapport building technique and so many salespeople completely ignore the significance of this technique. I’m not asking you to be disingenuous, but be informed and use the knowledge you gain to create a connection.

Use open-ended questions to discover personal information about the person. Remember, any common ground can help establish rapport. Find out about their life and hobbies, their beliefs and values.

It's important to be sincere here; don't “make up” an interest in something just to create rapport. Not only can this seem desperate; it can dent your credibility because too often you can get caught in the lie. If that happens, the sale is dead. They won’t trust you any longer.

Be Empathic

Empathy is about understanding other people by seeing things from their perspective, and recognizing their emotions. Once you achieve this, it's easier to get "on their level."

Use Mirroring

Mirroring is when you adjust your spoken language so that you "reflect" that of the person you're talking to.

For example, law enforcement professionals apply the mirroring technique when interviewing witnesses, especially those who have been through a traumatic experience. They might mirror the victim's body language, and adjust the volume and tone of their voice to match the victim's.

To use mirroring:

Mirror the other person's language. If he or she uses simple, direct words, then you should too. If the person speaks in technical language, then match that style if appropriate. When you respond, you can also reiterate key words or phrases that he or she used.
Copy the other person's speech patterns, such as vocal tone and volume. For instance, if he or she speaks softly and slowly, then lower the volume and tempo of your voice. (Research by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suggests this is the most effective way to establish rapport. It's very subtle, but it makes the other person feel comfortable and, most importantly, it makes them feel they're being understood.)

While mirroring is useful in building rapport, don't match every word and intonation. Do this on a subtle level – being too overt can be counterproductive.

The way we use our voice is important in developing rapport. When we are nervous or tense we tend to talk more quickly, this in turn can make you sound more tense and stressed. We can vary our voices, pitch, volume and pace in ways to make what we are saying more interesting but also to come across as more relaxed, open and friendly. Try lowering your tone, talk more slowly and softly, this will help you develop rapport more easily.

Re-establishing Rapport

Once rapport has been lost, rebuilding it takes time.

First, confront why you lost the rapport in the first place. Be humble and explain honestly and simply what happened. If you need to apologize, do so.

Next, focus on ways of repairing any broken trust. Make an extra effort to put in extra work if you need to, and keep your word. Transparency and showing a genuine concern for the other person's needs will go a long way in rebuilding trust and re-establishing rapport.

Summary

You build rapport when you develop mutual trust, friendship, and affinity with someone,

Building rapport is incredibly beneficial to your career – it opens doors and helps establish good relationships not just with clients, but with colleagues, and team members.

To build rapport, use the following strategies.