Close Deals Faster – RAPPORT

Here is the fourth installment of a series of 10 posts based on my brand-new book, Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method. Each post covers some of the material from a specific chapter of the book, and up next is Chapter Four: “Sell Yourself by Building Rapport.”

In this chapter, I share how developing your EQ (Emotional Intelligence) can help you close deals faster. EQ is probably more important than IQ in determining sales success, because people buy emotionally rather than rationally. By understanding how to handle the different buyer types (see my previous blog post) through the behaviors and emotions they most favorably respond to, you can better build rapport – a key ingredient in any sale.

As an example, joking around and displaying an informal attitude will turn off a Directive Driver, but it might endear you to an Expressive Communicator. If your EQ is low, you won’t even be aware of your own personality type, let alone your buyer’s. If this is so, you will have difficulty adjusting to each buyer you meet, and establishing rapport will be hard. To close deals faster, understand your own personality and what makes other personality types click, so when faced with a personality different than yours, you can still sell them successfully.

Now let’s look at some tips to build rapport.

Tips for building rapport to close deals faster

Understand this first: you have less than a minute to make a positive first impression. Some would say even less than that; the first impression is formed in microseconds. Therefore:

• Make an effort to look and sound your best. Professionalism counts.
• 55 percent of how you are judged is visual. Sloppy attire, disheveled hair, inappropriate jewelry – while this may stifle your desire to “express yourself however you want” — these things will hurt your chances of selling in the B2B world which tends to be very conservative in nature. It will be nearly impossible to establish rapport with someone who feels disrespected, so dress well.
• The next most important factor to generate a positive first impression and create rapport is the tone of your voice. This accounts for 38 percent of the initial impression, according to research. Try to match your prospect: if they speak slow and in a low tone and you typically speak fast and high-pitched, slow down. If you are the serious no-nonsense type and are dealing with an excited and friendly buyer, pick up your own energy and smile more. It matters!
• Ask open-ended questions, rather than questions which could be answered “yes” or “no.”
• Research the buyer’s social media profiles to determine their personality type if you don’t have an insider to give you the scoop.

Many smart people have a tendency to want to sell rationally, with lots of figures and logic. However, to close deals faster, they need to learn to sell emotionally.

For a deeper look at this subject, please order my book Close Deals Faster: The 15 Shortcuts of the Asher Sales Method which is published by IdeaPress and available on Amazon.