How To Build Rapport With The Prospect Before The Presentation | Sales Training
If you have been in sales for more than six months, you have most likely heard from a manager or some other salesperson: “You have to start every presentation with some small talk. You have to break the ice, get to know them, or make them comfortable.” Yes and no.
Some prospects want to get to know you, and you them. Others just want their problems solved or their needs and desires satisfied. Spending “getting to know you” time with prospects who do not want this is doomed to failure or at least lost momentum.
The key is to know how your prospect wants you to relate to them. I recommend that you begin every presentation with a simple question—whether you are selling Printer or Tupperware.
“Ms. Prospect, I don’t know how my organization can best be of service to you; the only way for me to determine that is if I can ask you a few questions. Is that okay?”
This approach does two very important things in the sales process:
It gives you control. The person who asks the questions controls the conversation. The person who talks the most dominates it. And in a sales situation you want to control it, not dominate it.
It gets the prospect talking and keeps them talking.
In my career I have discovered that poor prospects don’t want a lot of questions; they just want you to get to the price. Good prospects want you to know what their needs, problems, circumstances, or wants are and if you can satisfy them.
You’ll never know—and they will never know—if you do all of the talking.
Turn It Around
Always come from the prospect’s perspective.
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