There are many schools of thought on how to
build trust and rapport with your prospect. What is commonly agreed upon, however, is that none of the common methods for developing 'business credibility' will work without first establishing some amount of interpersonal trust and rapport. Many of you will benefit from your own insight by first understanding what 'trust' and 'rapport' mean:
- Webster's states that 'trust" is "to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something" and
- "Rapport" is a "relation characterized by harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity."
Many sales reps have been taught that bulding rapport with their prospects means finding 'common ground' to discuss. Unfortunately, many novice sales reps fail to make the connection between trust and rapport. Many a rookie sales rep has noticed the family picture behind their prospect's desk, and jumped in way too early with questions such as, "Oh, what a beautiful family. How old is your daughter?"
While certainly a valid topic for building rapport, it is ill advised to address such a sensitive topic before first establishing some level of interpersonal trust. Your prospect's family is very important to him or her, and it is unnatural to discuss them with a complete stranger.
The moral of the story:
First Trust...THEN Rapport.
Your Intentions Must Be Sincere
Prospects do not like to be sold, but are frequently receptive to a sales rep who sincerely wants to help them. If your position is to "sell something" to your prospect, then this will show and it will hinder your ability to
develop trust. If you want to develop trust, then, your positioning must be more one of a sincere "Helpful Advisor" than of "salesman".
Assuming that you sincerely seek to help, what initial steps can you take to develop trust quickly?
Establish Interpersonal Trust First
Pacing, sometimes referred to as '
mirroring', is an incredibly powerful technique that works at the subconscious level to build instant interpersonal trust. Since most people like and trust people that are like themselves, matching and mirroring your prospect's pace can have immediate results.
By observing your prospect's tone of voice, pace of speech, and general pace of movement, you can and should mirror these characteristics in your own conversation with him or her. Failure to do so makes you immediately 'different' and therefore 'suspect'. For example, if your prospect speaks slowly in a low tone of voice, it is inappropriate to speak too fast or too loudly. By matching the 'harmonics' of your prospect, (s)he will quickly feel that you are very much like him or her. Failing to do so will most certainly create interpersonal barriers that will require great effort to overcome later.
This technique is particularly powerful with
telephone cold calling and in your
prospecting voicemail strategy..
Other areas to consider pacing and mirroring to establish interpersonal trust are:
- Manners and social skills
- Posture
- Attire
- Emotions - type, intensity, empathy
After you have established subconscious interpersonal trust through pacing, it is then generally okay to start weaving in some of the more personal rapport building topics, such as the family picture referenced earlier. At this point, it should be possible to engage the more traditional methods for developing business credibility that will facilitate your prospect moving forward with your organization to develop and implement high-value business solutions
Using Rapport to Transition From Interpersonal Trust to Business Credibility
As you continue to develop interpersonal trust through pacing and mirroring, and position yourself as a helpful advisor (refraining from presenting solutions too early) an amazing thing will happen: As you show your genuine interest in your prospect's situation, (s)he will become psychologically obligated to try to understand yours. By following a questioning approach to understand your prospect's situation, you earn your right to speak and be heard.
Once having earned this right, you can then develop stronger rapport by sharing personal stories of your own that relate to your prospect, such as the fact that your daughter is attending the same college as your prospect's daughter. As you build this sincere interpersonal rapport together, you can begin to weave in the more traditional methods for building business credibility, such as customer references, case studies, and testimonials that highlight the ways you have helped similar clients to make money, save costs, reduce risk, improve their image, or simply made their jobs easier.
Summary
Be patient in your approach to developing credibility. Follow these simple steps, and you will develop many business friends, and even some personal ones:
- Deserve your prospect's trust first by taking on the mindset of "Helpful Advisor"
- Develop interpersonal trust through pacing and mirroring
- Establish rapport through sharing of personal stories in areas of common interest
- Establish the right to be heard through your sincere interest in the prospect's situation
- Develop business credibility with your new friend
- Collaborate together to create and deliver high impact business solutions
Happy Hunting! 
