We’ve all heard how important it is for your prospect to know, like, and trust you but now it’s time to understand why at a deeper level, so that we connect more effectively and avoid the pitfalls that can come with trying to use a traditional rapport technique.
What we’re talking about is one of the most basic fundamentals of persuasion, to connect with another human being on a level that they take in all of the information you are giving, without the underlying skeptic filtering mechanism trying to find some ulterior motive. Imagine if you had the ability to speak directly to someone’s subconscious, what doors would that open for you?
When we’re around people we completely trust, we’re much more relaxed and less tense because we don’t have our guard up. This is the point at which we are the most open to suggestion. The reason sales people struggle to effectively utilize rapport techniques is because their behavior is immediately recognized by the prospect on an unconscious level, and this triggers doubt. It raises a red flag that creates tension and has the prospect’s guard up even more than if no technique was used. We want a prospect to feel like they know, like, and trust us. Here are some basic rules to live by to be like and trusted:
To be Liked:
Rule #1: Like them first. You can’t fake this, you must genuinely like them. Find something that you like and focus on it. (Personality, laugh, knowledge, something!) People like people who like them, and dislike those who dislike them.
Rule #2: Compliment what you like and explain what you like about it. The reason this is rule #2 is because if you don’t follow rule #1 and don’t like them but try to fake compliment, you will lose trust and things will go terribly wrong. By complimenting you are directly telling them you like them (or something about them).
Rule #3: Become genuinely interested in them. If you are interested, you are perceived as interesting. Even more, if you are fascinated, you become fascinating. Ask questions, get curious!
Rule #4: Speak to them as if you’ve known them for years. Most people are nervous meeting new people. Unless you do it often, people are not naturally comfortable with this process so make it comfortable for them by speaking to them as if you have known them forever. In turn they will relax and feel like they’ve known you forever. This can be game-changing for you if it becomes part of your regular approach, because it touches on all three categories: know, like, and trust.
Rule #5: SMILE. This creates immediate connection and an un-conscious positive response. But be sure the smile is real because people can spot that as well. The difference between a real smile and fake one is in the eyes. Fake smiles are mouth only. This applies to the telephone as well. People feel it on the other end. Hence the phrase, “Smile and dial!”
Building Trust (Intentions):
Rule #1: First and foremost, only care about the benefit to your customer. If you add value to enough people’s lives and put enough clients before your own self-interest, you will have more clients, and you’ll have clients for life. Don’t be short-sighted. This sounds obvious but make it real because this isn’t just a mission statement to look good on your website, this should be how you operate as a person.
Rule #2: Always speak to the benefit of the customer. Answer the WIIFM (What’s in it for me?). By doing this, it shows that all your focus and all that you care about is your client benefiting. You’d be surprised how often salespeople say things like, “I’d love to see you get started” or, “I was hoping...”. Your prospect doesn’t care about what you were hoping for. They only care about what it means for them. The time that you have with your prospect is not infinite. This means that if your time with the prospect is limited, so are the number of words you can use. Don’t waste them.
Rule #3: Make it abundantly clear that your only concern is their benefit. Many salespeople assume that the prospect should know this, and they fail to emphasize it with words. The prospect has dealt with many salespeople before you, who only cared about their own selfish needs and tried to push their product without demonstrating any concern for your prospect. Since he or she has been mistreated in the past, it becomes easy to assume all salespeople only want one thing. They need to be told that you will put their interest before yours. Explain to them that if it isn’t a fi t you would rather they get the right product from someone else and you’ll even recommend where they should go. Show your integrity and do it genuinely. (I know I shouldn’t have to keep saying the genuine part, but I promise you there are people right now skimming through this chapter to learn a new way of tricking a prospect into buying.)
Rule #4: Find out what’s most important to them. Many things in life are preferences and we all have different values. You can be an expert on any topic, but you can’t know what someone prefers. By asking and trying to understand their buying criteria, you demonstrate that you care about what’s more important to them (not you). And showing is more powerful than telling. We’ll talk about the buying criteria later but asking these questions demonstrates your willingness to provide what they are looking for.
Building Trust (Capability):
Rule #1: Become an expert. A real one. Learn your product better than everyone else. Understand your competitors’ products better than their salespeople know them. Know your prospect’s industry as well as they know them. (This is another benefit of picking a niche.) Spend time doing the research and become the expert on these topics because there is no faking this, you are either capable or you are not!
Rule #2: Educate the customer. Teach them what you know, and they will recognize your expertise immediately. Teach them how to compare, show them what to look for and how to buy. This is the fastest way for the world to see that you are capable; simply demonstrate it.
Rule #3: Be the authority. You must lead, not follow. In order for the prospect to take action based on your suggestion, you must take the lead and become the authority in that relationship. There is always a teacher-student, parent-child, employer-employee, doctor-patient relationship happening. During a sales conversation, you must be the authority and make recommendations so that they can be the person that takes the recommendations. Start small with things like, “Please sit here” or, “Grab a pen”. Every suggestion they take makes it easier and easier to take the next, bigger, suggestion. Lead not follow.
Rule #4: Show how others have benefited from following your lead. Tell success stories, give examples, show testimonials, case studies, etc. Nobody wants to be the guinea pig. Let them see social proof that you already have a following and these people’s lives and businesses are better because of you.
This was an excerpt from Client Machine: The B2B System for Generating Clients.
For more information on how to predictably and consistently generate new B2B customers and land those hard to get accounts, go to www.client-machine.com
About the Author:
George Athan, CEO of MIndStorm, is a business growth expert, keynote speaker, and international best-selling author.
He has been mentioned in various media dozens of times; appearing in magazines, podcasts, and blogposts as the go to expert in business growth. Athan teaches business owners and executives how to rapidly grow and scale their business. His keynotes, seminars, and workshops help companies become bigger and stronger, faster. His cutting-edge research into strategy, marketing, and sales makes him the go to expert in the topic of business growth, and your secret weapon in the competitive world of business.
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