They say “People buy from people they like.” I do believe that’s true. Granted, I like almost no one, thought I still purchase things all the time. Do I get along with people? Most folks I meet. Would I say I like them? Eh. Do I buy things from people even if I don’t LIKE them? Sure, so long as I can see they’re trying. And that is where rapport building comes in. I don’t have a relationship with them, but I’ll give them credit for the attempt to get to know me.
In sales, one of the earliest goals is to get customers on your side, and to do that, it helps to be liked. A book I first read years ago that I’ve gone back to a couple times is Tim Sanders’ “The Likeability Factor”. Simply put, there is a financial benefit to being likeable. Rapport building doesn’t make you likeable, but it is a start. Without finding common ground with a potential client, how would you meet eye to eye? How would you identify their interests and share similar sentiments to build empathy and see the sale (or the need for your specific product) from your customer’s viewpoint?
I always say a “Needs Assessment” takes place in-dealership.
These are the basics of Needs Assessment Questions.
- What are they looking for?
- What research have they performed?
- What sites swayed their decisions?
- What vehicles were they initially considering?
- How do they intend to use the vehicle?
- How many miles do they drive?
- Where do they drive it?
- Who is often with them?
- What are they looking for in their next vehicle that their current vehicle doesn’t have?
- What do they need in their next vehicle that their current vehicle already has?
- Is there anything specific they need this vehicle to do for them?
- What made you decide this one you found online is the one you’re most interested in?
- What features or options caught your eye that you’ll looking forward to see on this vehicle?
- And why?
(These are all the most basic, common rapport building questions – I’m not going to give you all the good stuff )
None of that is “rapport building” though. I find rapport building starts on the test drive. Why? Because they don’t need to focus on newfangled buttons when driving a vehicle that is foreign to them. However, everyone can answer personal questions they know inherently, so that is always the best place I find to make a friend.
Rapport building encompasses 8 simple categories:
- Location (Place of residence, Where you are from, what do you like about it?)
- Family / Family Life (Who are you with, tell me about your kids, what do you do with them?)
- Work (What do you do? That’s always interested me, tell me more, how did you get into that? Do you like it?)
- Pets (Tell me about your critters? What kind? What names? Do you have pictures? Don’t do the pictures thing with kids unless they say they have a baby.)
- Hobbies (What do you do for fun? How do you spend your free time? How long have you been into that? How does it make you feel when you do? When is the next time you’re doing it?
- Travel (Where do you go? Where are you going next? Where have you gone? What’s your favorite place? Where haven’t you been that you want to experience?
- Sports (Who’s your team? How long have you rooted for them? Do you get to see them live? Why are they your team?)
- Pop Culture (What do you watch? What do you listen to in your vehicle? What do you read?
Certainly there are a few more, but if you have the time to understand these elements of a customer’s life, there should be plenty for your rapport building needs. This is where fun conversations are had, people see eye to eye, and getting to know each other flourishes.
Rapport building is the start to getting on your customer’s good side. People want to know those they do business with have similar sensibilities (especially for big-ticket items). At the very least, they’ll reward you for trying. Evergreen conversation is always better than silence. However, if your conversations are all about the transaction, you have made yourself only a facilitator to the sale and not a multiplier. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing special either.
In the end, sales can certainly be closed with nothing more than building value in the product and walking a customer through the purchase. However, with no rapport built, it will take doing everything right to get the sale from a process perspective, and you likely didn’t earn a long-term customer. At the same time, you can miss full steps and potentially do a less than adequate job of building value in the product, but having an engaging and fun rapport building conversation can still win you the sale. When you put all of it together is when you make profit AND set yourself up for Phase Two: Relationship-building. That comes at the end of the sale. Stay tuned for part two
