This is one of those topics I always believe people inherently know…and then I come across a robotic salesperson.  Apparently not everyone is aware of this truth.  This quick post from Selling Power speaks to the importance of rapport-building and successful selling (and I lifted the title from them).

A quick refresher:

1. Match your customer’s style. Pay attention to how your customer prefers to communicate and get in step. Does your customer prefer to get right down to business or warm up by engaging in some small talk? What kind of a sense of humor does your customer have? If your customer talks fast and loud, you certainly won’t build rapport by talking slow and soft.

So true and yet many salespeople miss it.  Matching, not mimicking, your prospect is an important tool on a first call.  It is simple to do if you pay attention to their communication style.  The implication here is that you have to listen to them which means you are not talking.  Most of the communication trouble I see when riding along with salespeople is their desire to simply show up and throw up.  We live by this rule – if you are talking, you are not selling.

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