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Industry Gems Sales Tip:
How To Build Instant Trust & Rapport over the Telephone

Did you know that the way you speak makes a big difference on your sales calls? For example, are you a self described “slow talker” or do you like a fire rapid pace of conversation?

I bring this up because I never used to pay attention to the way I spoke during a sales call. After all, as long as I prepared for the call, and my product was a good match, nothing else mattered, right?

Well, not really. Low and behold, the way you dialog with your customer goes a long way in building trust and rapport. Fortunately for me, a few years back I learned a great way to establish rapport in a conversation right away.

It all started when I attended a sales training by veteran sales psychologist Dr. Donald Moine. Boy, what a difference his teachings have made in my sales calls. Dr. Moine taught us that on a subconscious level “people like people that are like themselves”.

One of the examples he gave was to match your style of conversation to that of your prospect. Let me give you an example. I am a self-described “slow talker”. I like to take my time when I speak and I also like to enunciate my words. True to Dr. Moine’s teachings, I naturally and instantly liked people who talked just like me, slow and relaxed.

Conversely, my sister is a fast talker. In fact, it really gets on her nerves when she gets “stuck” talking to a slow talker - like me!

Knowing your own style of speaking is the easy part. The hard part is paying attention and capturing your prospect’s style of speaking. For example, here are some common speaking styles I've heard since learning this:

Informal speaking style
Formal and very business-like
Fast paced
Slow paced
Soft speaker
Loud speaker

So next time you’re on the phone, pay attention. Listen to the style and pace of conversation your prospect naturally uses when speaking. Then, see if you can adapt a little to their style.

For example, let’s say you naturally speak loud and fast, and your prospect is speaking low and slow. If you catch this early on, you could adjust your own conversational style to match their style of speaking.

By doing so, you will have learned a little known secret about how to build instant trust and rapport with a prospect, right from the get-go. On a subconscious level, your prospect will like you and trust you, though they may not be able to pinpoint exactly why.

It took me a while to remember to do this in my own conversations, but with practice, it now comes naturally.

Not everyone is just like we are. My belief is that if you take the time to understand your prospect on more than one level, you will shorten the time it takes to win them as customers.

About Industry Gems Sales Intelligence

Silvia Quintanilla is President & Chief Sales Detective of Industry Gems, a custom sales intelligence company dedicated to helping salespeople win large deals with Fortune 500 companies. Learn more about us at www.industrygems.com.

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