Building a Bridge of Rapport with Prospects
By Curtis Brown, Tier 1 Leadership Consulting
Until you have rapport, you do not have permission to pitch or persuade a prospect.
A personal invitation to a prospect, by either a center of influence or a referral from a client, reduces the time involved in establishing your connection with a prospect because your referral source has created a “bridge” to on-board this new prospect or relationship. Successful advisors seek personal introductions rather than just referral names to improve their client acquisition targets.
We are all more inclined to take a meeting or introduction from a friend who brings someone that they trust to a meeting for a friendly visit and introduction. This provides a level of comfort to a prospective client.
When we coach advisors at Tier 1, we always start with the client’s agenda first on every call. This provides the Advisor the opportunity for the client to discuss what is important to them and what matters to them the most. Remember, people do business with you because they believe you understand them and their needs. This is vital in establishing an emotional connection with your clients.
Very often a prospect will provide signals to you about their circumstances. They may make a statement like, “I want to travel more”, or visit a specific country, or pay for a daughter’s wedding, or retire comfortably in a particular locale. Acknowledge or repeat what they say back to them using their words. Your acknowledgement indicates that you listened and respect what they have to say.
Empathy demonstrates that you understand your prospect’s emotional state of mind and can meet their needs. Said another way, it’s part of your emotional IQ and self-awareness that helps you relate to another human being. Building this emotional connection prompts the prospect to take the next step in understanding you and your services, which is essential in closing the sale.
It’s often been said that Advisors sell dreams, hopes and aspirations. You want to leave your prospect inspired to work with you. Your choice of specific words can help you in moving this connection forward as well. Especially, words like feel, felt, and found.
For example, “Many of my clients feel the same way as you do”, “I have felt the same as you do many times, however, I have found by engaging in a planning process provides a long-term strategy for most clients to reach their goals”. These words help you emotionally connect with the prospect. Practice, drill, and rehearse these works until they become second nature to you.
At the end of every prospect meeting, it is important to debrief the session by asking yourself some basic questions:
- Did I find out or address any of the prospect’s pain points or concerns?
- Did I discuss any positive reinforcement that provided confidence in the prospect’s future??
- Were there opportunities to say things that helped the prospect feel secure about working with me?
- In conversation, did you provide elements of comfort and trust?
Take note of your responses and determine how well you were able to build rapport with you prospect.
Crossing the bridge of rapport and building an emotional connection with your prospect is an important step in getting permission to persuade them to do business with you. Until you cross this bridge, your best presentation will be a risk and you will not move the relationship forward. Try these simple ideas and build your emotional connection and stronger relationships with your prospects right away.
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