Creating Rapport-Executive Style

Virtually everyone in sales knows that creating rapport with their prospect or customer is a critical skill. And, the majority of people follow the same approach by making small talk at the beginning of the sales conversation. While this technique used to be effective, it is not necessarily the best approach in today’s hectic business world, especially if you deal directly with C-level decision-makers.

Let’s face it, executives are far from stupid. Glancing around their office and commenting about a photo, award, or some other observation is a transparent tactic.

Here are three ways to develop rapport with executives.

1.       Get to the point quickly. Don’t waste time on small talk that is unrelated to the matters at hand. Start your conversation with, “I know that you are busy so I’ll get right to the point.” Your prospect will appreciate this.

2.       Demonstrate that you have done some research. Comment on industry trends or refer to information gleaned from your prospects’ website or annual report. Executives respect people who do their homework before the sales call.

3.       Finish early. If you have 30 minutes allotted for your meeting, finish it in 25 minutes or less. Respect their time and they will respect you.

This will get you started and will help you differentiate yourself from many of your competitors.

Kelley Robertson helps sales professionals and businesses discover new techniques to improve their sales and profits. Receive a FREE copy of 100 Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or by email.

Comments

[Sam Miller]

I would add the most important thing in my experience.

Demonsrate KNOWLEDGE. That is the surest way to gain confidence of a prospective customer.

[Murray Abramovitch]

Excellent advice. Idle chatter tells the executive that you take neither him nor yourself seriously. Time is indeed money, and how you manage your time with a customer or prospect will impact directly on how much time you will secure and indirectly on how much of the account you will procure down the road.

I would, however, add three other pieces of advice:

- Be prepared to meet at a time convenient to your customer or prospect - and if convenient means at 6:00 a.m. because the customer needs to be on a jobsite or if convenient means on a Saturday morning because the customer is going out of town, so be it;

- Be on time;

- If the customer asks for information, be sure to get back to him with information in a timely fashion.

Obvious, you say? Absolutely.