Today we welcome a new guest writer, Shaun Gisbourne, from Phone for Business, and his first contribution to the Telesales Magic archive. Shaun kick’s off what we hope will become regular contributions with a look at the important role of building strong rapport with your telesales prospect. Enjoy.

What is rapport? Well, it’s a word that comes from the French language whose meaning essentially is connection, relation, link, communication, affinity. Establishing rapport can be natural, or it can take time. Sometimes it seems that it may never happen at all.

Suppose we were to accept on faith that there are no bad prospects, only bad salespeople, then we set the bar for establishing rapport very high indeed. It’s about attaining a level of comfort in your dealings with others, a mutual degree of respect and understanding. Whilst we can say that interactions can vary depending upon who you’re calling, the time of day, the pressure they’re already feeling from their environment and events in their lives, let us also be clear that the same is true of you, the person doing the calling.

If, during a call, you sense something is amiss, for example there is distraction or there is pressure, it’s often better to mention it, get it out in the open. This can be done respectfully. Pretending that something is not happening makes for a phoney (no pun intended) situation and rapport suffers. This is especially true when it’s clear that the communication feels awkward, stilted or unnatural.

Rapport is so crucial in the first minute of cold calling. It has been said that a sale is won or lost at “hello”. One way to overcome such concerns is to be very deliberate in expressing the purpose of your call, for example:

Hello John, that is John Smith, yes?
“Yes”

“John, it’s Shaun here from XYZ company. Before I say anything else John, I’d like to ask your help please: I’m conscious of the fact we’ve never spoken before and feeling a little nervous. If you feel uncomfortable or the conversation between us gets awkward, can I count on you to say so?

“Well yes, what’s this about? What do you do?”
“John, whenever I call someone I share 3 or 4 key issues that people face before we work with them. That takes 30 seconds. After that, if you decide there’s no point speaking further, can we agree that you’ll stop the conversation (in effect, tell me “no”)?
AWAIT “yes”, you require agreement to continue.

“Can we also agree that if anything I share makes sense to continue discussing you’ll let me know that as well (in effect, tell me “yes”?)”
AWAIT “yes”, you require agreement to continue.

“Thank you John. We help business owners and company directors that…”

Then introduce the 3 or 4 brief statements that include the Problems, Issues, Concerns or Situations (paint the PICS) that you resolve in outstanding fashion.

Often, we’re trying to do too much too quickly on a call: We feel compelled to spill all the benefits of our product or service and get our sales pitch out before even getting the other person’s permission to continue, or establishing how open they are to looking into the new and creative ways to address their concerns that you deliver. Rather than ask questions, which should dominate the early part of the call especially, we make statements. Sadly, people often fail to realise that this bombardment of information is, in itself, the objection!!

Sales, particularly sales involving complex products or services, is a journey of more than one step, so be deliberate and avoid running out of steam at the beginning. Some people talk in terms of selling being dead or obsolete, and that it’s all about helping people to buy. The truth is that to succeed in building rapport it’s about showing that you’re ready to put relationships ahead of sales.

Avoid getting ruffled or letting the other person ruffle you by the questions they ask or statements they make. Letting your emotions run the call is a certain way to mess up and affect your composure. By all means use emotive words in your problem statements that convey the feelings people have before you work with them, just avoid becoming defensive if challenged by your prospect. Defensiveness can kill rapport (and your call) stone dead.

Remember, as far as your prospect is concern there is risk associated with speaking to you. It’s hard for him to verify who you are and what you represent, and he realises that you’re inviting him to consider changing something in his business. Changing the status quo implies risk: Risk that his judgment will be called into question, risk that he’ll be blamed if a change produces bad results, risk that he may be fired!

Above all, be comfortable in what you’re doing and saying on a call and remember to listen. Listen without thinking about what you need to say next and focus only on what is being said to you. Building rapport is easier when you use your two ears and one mouth in proportion by listening twice as much as you speak. Remember, you’ve more in common with the person you’re calling than you realise: Hopes, fear, needs, problems, bodily functions!

Would you agree that it’s possible to build rapport with someone rather like yourself? I thought so!

Shaun is the head-honcho over at Phone for Business, a consultantcy firm specialising in Telemarketing services for the UK market and European markets.

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Other related posts:

Telesales Tips: Listening Effectively

UK Telesales News – Charity Calls ‘Not the Same’ as Telemarketing

Telesales Tips: Cold Calling Success