From mirroring to forced small talk …we’ve all heard different methods that supposedly build rapport.
But what exactly is rapport? Rapport is being in sync and doing/saying things the same way. To build rapport, you must adjust your personality and communication styles to match those of the prospect.
For instance, I am a detail-oriented person. I love facts and structure, getting things done quickly, and don’t care too much for fluff. Yet, my job as the sales person is to adjust to others, not the other way around. So to adjust to those with opposite personality/communication styles, I need to become more talkative and animated than I normally would in order to be on the same wavelength and build rapport.
There are four basic personality types you can adjust to depending on who you are talking to:
- Very driven people who are all about getting stuff done with no fluff who are very direct and somewhat aggressive.
- Talkative, friendly people, who love to chit chat, talk about the weather, and are somewhat disorganized.
- Even-tempered people who are patient and want stability, but can be very hard to read.
- Very structured people, who love facts and numbers, but can take a while to make decisions.
It is important to be able to adjust to each one of these types depending on who you are talking to so that you can have a more open conversation with potential prospects.
Think about this when trying to build rapport with someone: “People buy from people they trust, and they trust people who are like them”.
