How to Be a Master Rapport Builder Using AI: 7 Tips for Sales Reps

October 16, 2024

In sales, rapport building is not just a skill—it’s an art form. It’s that magical ingredient that turns a sales pitch into a meaningful conversation, a transaction into a partnership.

Source: Sprout Social

That's the power of rapport! Rapport building starts with empathy, which helps gain customer trust in sales. Seasons sales pros know that effective communication is at the core of rapport building in sales. When you build strong relationships with prospects, you gain their trust, making them more receptive to your pitch and increasing the chances of closing the deal. 

In this blog, we'll deep dive into practical rapport-building techniques tailored for sales reps. You will get answers to questions like ‘how to build trust in sales,’ ‘how to use matching and mirroring techniques to connect’, and much more.

So, let’s explore how you can be the rapport expert superseller who wins over clients and builds lasting relationships.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #1: Know Your Prospect Before the First Call

Before even thinking about picking up the phone, prospect research is crucial. Start by gathering information on your prospect's company, industry trends, and their specific role. Know their challenges, recent accomplishments, and industry pain points. This prep work shows that you’re not just interested in a sale—you’re interested in solving their problems. Prospect research can be time-consuming, but it will lay the foundation for strong sales relationship-building over time.

Social media is your goldmine for getting to know prospects better. Platforms like LinkedIn can reveal shared connections, interests, and mutual groups. This information becomes your ammunition to start a meaningful conversation and establish common ground from the get-go.

Quick tip: Use tools like Humantic.ai to get insights into the prospect's personality and communication style. Tailoring your approach based on this information is a game-changer in building rapport in sales.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #2: The Power of Active Listening

Active listening is the secret sauce for building rapport in sales. It’s not just about hearing your prospect. It’s about truly understanding their needs, concerns, and desires. By actively listening, you make your prospects feel heard, valued, understood, and engaged—essential ingredients for trust-building.

Tactics for Active Listening

  1. Repeat Key Points: Paraphrase what your prospect has said to confirm understanding and show you’re engaged in the conversation.
  2. Acknowledge Concerns: Validate their worries before offering solutions. It shows empathy and establishes you as a trustworthy problem-solver.
  3. Summarize Statements: At the end of the call, summarize the key takeaways to ensure you're on the same page and convey that you’re fully invested in their goals.
Quick tip: Sybill’s AI goes a step further by capturing both verbal and non-verbal cues during calls. It identifies those key moments where prospects express concerns or excitement, helping you tailor your responses with empathy. After the call, Sybill provides insights that highlight what truly resonated with your prospect along with their needs and pain points, setting you up for more effective follow-ups.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #3: Matching & Mirroring in Sales

Matching and mirroring is a time-tested technique that can foster a sense of connection with your prospect. It involves subtly imitating their tone, speech pace, and body language, creating a subconscious bond that makes them feel more comfortable.

  1. Tone: Adjust your tone to match the energy of your prospect. If they’re upbeat and enthusiastic, bring that same vibe to the conversation.
  2. Pace: Speak at a similar pace to your prospect. Fast talkers might appreciate a quick conversation, while more thoughtful speakers might respond better to a slower pace.
  3. Body Language: For video calls, mirror their body language by nodding, smiling, or using hand gestures. This reinforces that you’re on their wavelength.

Click here to learn more about mirroring in sales.

Real-Time Practice

One of the best ways to master matching and mirroring is through post-call reviews. Reviewing recorded calls can help you identify where you successfully mirrored your prospect and where you might need to tweak your approach.

Quick tip: With Sybill’s detailed call summaries, you can reflect on the prospect's tone and body language cues, allowing you to fine-tune your mirroring technique in future interactions.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #4: Building a Connection Through Common Interests

Sales conversations are an art form that every sales rep needs to master. Finding common ground with your prospects is like striking gold. When you discover a shared hobby, interest, or mutual connection, it creates an instant bond and makes the conversation more personal and less transactional.

How to Find Common Interests

  • Check Social Media: Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Instagram can provide insights into their hobbies, volunteer work, or industry involvement.
  • Mutual Connections: A quick LinkedIn search can reveal mutual connections, giving you an easy way to start building rapport by mentioning shared contacts.
Quick tip: Sybill’s Magic Summary can surface conversation starters where the prospect mentioned personal interests or hobbies. Use these nuggets in future conversations to rekindle rapport and show that you genuinely remember and care about your interactions with prospects.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #5: Use Humor to Break the Ice

A little humor can go a long way in sales. It humanizes the conversation, lightens the mood, and helps your prospect relax. The key is to use humor sparingly and appropriately, ensuring it aligns with the prospect's personality and the context of your conversation.

Examples of How to Use Humor

  • Icebreakers: Start the call with a lighthearted comment about a common situation, like the challenges of working from home.
  • Relatable Anecdotes: Share a quick, relevant story that’s both funny and informative, making the conversation more engaging.
Quick tip: Sybill can help you identify what type of humor in conversation starters resonate with different prospects. This data allows you to refine your approach for future calls, ensuring your humor lands just right.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #6: Follow Up with a Personal Touch

Following up is crucial in building rapport, but a generic "just following up" email won't cut it. Personalize your follow-up messages by referencing specific details from your previous conversations. It shows the prospect that you’re attentive and committed to addressing their unique needs.

Crafting Personal Follow-Ups

  • Reference Past Conversations: Mention specific pain points or goals that were discussed.
  • Use Their Words: Reflect their language and phrasing to show that you were actively listening.
Quick tip: With Sybill's 1-Click Follow-Up Emails, crafting tailored follow-ups is a breeze. Sybill analyzes call transcripts and highlights key points, enabling you to send thoughtful follow-up messages that truly resonate. What’s more - Sybill clones the seller’s voice to craft absurdly human follow up emails - in 1 click. Literally! 

Sales Rapport Building Tip #7: Consistency in Communication

Building rapport isn’t a one-time effort; it requires ongoing, consistent communication. Staying on top of follow-ups, check-ins, and action items shows that you’re reliable and dedicated to the prospect's success.

Tips for Staying Consistent

  • Set Reminders: Schedule follow-up dates, check-ins, or milestones in your CRM to keep the relationship warm.
  • Document Details: Keep notes on personal interests, company updates, and key points discussed during calls to reference in future interactions.
Quick tip: With Sybill’s Deal Summaries, tracking these details becomes effortless. It automatically updates your CRM with important information from calls, ensuring you have all the context you need for your next interaction. No more scrambling to remember what was discussed—you’re always prepared and consistent.

Building Rapport in Sales is an Ongoing Journey

Mastering rapport building in sales is a continuous process. It's about being genuinely interested in your prospects, actively listening to their needs, and engaging with them on a personal level. By using these rapport-building techniques, you’ll not only build stronger relationships but also pave the way for sales success.

Tools like Sybill can amplify your rapport-building efforts by providing insights and features that make your interactions more meaningful. 

Ready to build rapport like a super-seller? Give Sybill a try.

Get started with Sybill

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In sales, rapport building is not just a skill—it’s an art form. It’s that magical ingredient that turns a sales pitch into a meaningful conversation, a transaction into a partnership.

Source: Sprout Social

That's the power of rapport! Rapport building starts with empathy, which helps gain customer trust in sales. Seasons sales pros know that effective communication is at the core of rapport building in sales. When you build strong relationships with prospects, you gain their trust, making them more receptive to your pitch and increasing the chances of closing the deal. 

In this blog, we'll deep dive into practical rapport-building techniques tailored for sales reps. You will get answers to questions like ‘how to build trust in sales,’ ‘how to use matching and mirroring techniques to connect’, and much more.

So, let’s explore how you can be the rapport expert superseller who wins over clients and builds lasting relationships.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #1: Know Your Prospect Before the First Call

Before even thinking about picking up the phone, prospect research is crucial. Start by gathering information on your prospect's company, industry trends, and their specific role. Know their challenges, recent accomplishments, and industry pain points. This prep work shows that you’re not just interested in a sale—you’re interested in solving their problems. Prospect research can be time-consuming, but it will lay the foundation for strong sales relationship-building over time.

Social media is your goldmine for getting to know prospects better. Platforms like LinkedIn can reveal shared connections, interests, and mutual groups. This information becomes your ammunition to start a meaningful conversation and establish common ground from the get-go.

Quick tip: Use tools like Humantic.ai to get insights into the prospect's personality and communication style. Tailoring your approach based on this information is a game-changer in building rapport in sales.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #2: The Power of Active Listening

Active listening is the secret sauce for building rapport in sales. It’s not just about hearing your prospect. It’s about truly understanding their needs, concerns, and desires. By actively listening, you make your prospects feel heard, valued, understood, and engaged—essential ingredients for trust-building.

Tactics for Active Listening

  1. Repeat Key Points: Paraphrase what your prospect has said to confirm understanding and show you’re engaged in the conversation.
  2. Acknowledge Concerns: Validate their worries before offering solutions. It shows empathy and establishes you as a trustworthy problem-solver.
  3. Summarize Statements: At the end of the call, summarize the key takeaways to ensure you're on the same page and convey that you’re fully invested in their goals.
Quick tip: Sybill’s AI goes a step further by capturing both verbal and non-verbal cues during calls. It identifies those key moments where prospects express concerns or excitement, helping you tailor your responses with empathy. After the call, Sybill provides insights that highlight what truly resonated with your prospect along with their needs and pain points, setting you up for more effective follow-ups.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #3: Matching & Mirroring in Sales

Matching and mirroring is a time-tested technique that can foster a sense of connection with your prospect. It involves subtly imitating their tone, speech pace, and body language, creating a subconscious bond that makes them feel more comfortable.

  1. Tone: Adjust your tone to match the energy of your prospect. If they’re upbeat and enthusiastic, bring that same vibe to the conversation.
  2. Pace: Speak at a similar pace to your prospect. Fast talkers might appreciate a quick conversation, while more thoughtful speakers might respond better to a slower pace.
  3. Body Language: For video calls, mirror their body language by nodding, smiling, or using hand gestures. This reinforces that you’re on their wavelength.

Click here to learn more about mirroring in sales.

Real-Time Practice

One of the best ways to master matching and mirroring is through post-call reviews. Reviewing recorded calls can help you identify where you successfully mirrored your prospect and where you might need to tweak your approach.

Quick tip: With Sybill’s detailed call summaries, you can reflect on the prospect's tone and body language cues, allowing you to fine-tune your mirroring technique in future interactions.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #4: Building a Connection Through Common Interests

Sales conversations are an art form that every sales rep needs to master. Finding common ground with your prospects is like striking gold. When you discover a shared hobby, interest, or mutual connection, it creates an instant bond and makes the conversation more personal and less transactional.

How to Find Common Interests

  • Check Social Media: Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even Instagram can provide insights into their hobbies, volunteer work, or industry involvement.
  • Mutual Connections: A quick LinkedIn search can reveal mutual connections, giving you an easy way to start building rapport by mentioning shared contacts.
Quick tip: Sybill’s Magic Summary can surface conversation starters where the prospect mentioned personal interests or hobbies. Use these nuggets in future conversations to rekindle rapport and show that you genuinely remember and care about your interactions with prospects.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #5: Use Humor to Break the Ice

A little humor can go a long way in sales. It humanizes the conversation, lightens the mood, and helps your prospect relax. The key is to use humor sparingly and appropriately, ensuring it aligns with the prospect's personality and the context of your conversation.

Examples of How to Use Humor

  • Icebreakers: Start the call with a lighthearted comment about a common situation, like the challenges of working from home.
  • Relatable Anecdotes: Share a quick, relevant story that’s both funny and informative, making the conversation more engaging.
Quick tip: Sybill can help you identify what type of humor in conversation starters resonate with different prospects. This data allows you to refine your approach for future calls, ensuring your humor lands just right.

Sales Rapport Building Tip #6: Follow Up with a Personal Touch

Following up is crucial in building rapport, but a generic "just following up" email won't cut it. Personalize your follow-up messages by referencing specific details from your previous conversations. It shows the prospect that you’re attentive and committed to addressing their unique needs.

Crafting Personal Follow-Ups

  • Reference Past Conversations: Mention specific pain points or goals that were discussed.
  • Use Their Words: Reflect their language and phrasing to show that you were actively listening.
Quick tip: With Sybill's 1-Click Follow-Up Emails, crafting tailored follow-ups is a breeze. Sybill analyzes call transcripts and highlights key points, enabling you to send thoughtful follow-up messages that truly resonate. What’s more - Sybill clones the seller’s voice to craft absurdly human follow up emails - in 1 click. Literally! 

Sales Rapport Building Tip #7: Consistency in Communication

Building rapport isn’t a one-time effort; it requires ongoing, consistent communication. Staying on top of follow-ups, check-ins, and action items shows that you’re reliable and dedicated to the prospect's success.

Tips for Staying Consistent

  • Set Reminders: Schedule follow-up dates, check-ins, or milestones in your CRM to keep the relationship warm.
  • Document Details: Keep notes on personal interests, company updates, and key points discussed during calls to reference in future interactions.
Quick tip: With Sybill’s Deal Summaries, tracking these details becomes effortless. It automatically updates your CRM with important information from calls, ensuring you have all the context you need for your next interaction. No more scrambling to remember what was discussed—you’re always prepared and consistent.

Building Rapport in Sales is an Ongoing Journey

Mastering rapport building in sales is a continuous process. It's about being genuinely interested in your prospects, actively listening to their needs, and engaging with them on a personal level. By using these rapport-building techniques, you’ll not only build stronger relationships but also pave the way for sales success.

Tools like Sybill can amplify your rapport-building efforts by providing insights and features that make your interactions more meaningful. 

Ready to build rapport like a super-seller? Give Sybill a try.

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