In your customer! I work with a lot of salespeople and I love to watch their approach, how they greet me, their listening skills, what they say, how they say it, and what I truly love to observe -how well they build rapport and take interest in me and in my needs. If you want to go to the top, you have to take a sincere interest in your customer.
There was a time when I thought this was just considered “small-talk” and that it was a waste of time. I was wrong. A lot of your customers want to get to know you- the salesperson, and you should do the same with your customer. A good balance of “small-talk” at the beginning, throughout, and at the end of your meeting with your customer is going to boost your performance. Why? Because often times this small-talk (rapport) is what your client needs in order to get a better sense of the person that you are and who they might become business partners with.
In short, rapport can help a customer determine if they can trust you or not. Small-talk also opens up an opportunity to show your customer that you are a real, down to earth, good person, a professional who will do right by them. A professional who is interested in their success and the success of their company.
Building rapport is easy too. Here are some great pointers to help break the ice and build rapport on your next customer meeting:
- Check out your customer’s website before your meeting and find something of interest about it. Tell your customer about it when you meet with them. I would often do this by researching my customer’s company history or their bio on their website and after finding something that I thought was pretty interesting or unique, I would make mention of it and give praise to my customer. They always appreciated it.
- If you are actually going to meet with your customer in person and you think they have a really great looking office or building, tell them about it! I would often greet my customer by telling them how amazed I was at such a beautiful office or location that they had. I would go on and ask them how long they have been at that location, and I would get the whole history. Customers like this!
- Take an interest in your customer’s products or services that they provide. When I sold construction software, I would often meet with big heavy/highway construction firms (the companies with the big earth-moving equipment). I would always ask for a tour of the facilities so I could check out the big equipment and their fleet. That stuff always fascinated me so I couldn’t help but get all excited when I got the “nickel tour.” Customers love this!
- Take an interest in the person you are meeting with. If they are the CFO or owner of the company, ask them how they got started with the company, how long they have been doing it, and give them credit for their hard work! Not in a formal interview style manner, but just in a relaxed, inquisitive, curious manner. We are all human and we love to tell our story. There is nothing wrong with giving your contact praise and a lot of credit for their success and for building a wonderful business. After all, isn’t that what you want to do?!
- When listenining to your customer’s needs, take deep interest in them. Get into their world! Truly understand their problems that they are trying to solve (with your products) and gain a deep understanding of them. When you really understand what someone is trying to accomplish and the importance of solving these problems, customers will trust that you truly “get it” and understand their world from their lens. Customers love this!
- Lastly, take interest in your customer’s upcoming projects or new ventures. Customers appreciate being asked about this because it shows that the salesperson cares enough about their company to ask about their future and what’s next.
- Okay, this should be enough to get you breaking the ice, building rapport, and taking interest in your customer. Remember, that customers are people, and people will remember you (the awesome salesperson) who took the time to get to know them and not just try and sell them. Make note of this. Get to know your customer by taking an interest in them, and they will do the same to you in return.
-Happy Selling!