Without doubt this is the most important part of any sales call and it is the most difficult to perfect. There is always the odd exception but generally people will not buy from you if they don't like you. Remember when you went into the clothes shop with that pushy sales assistant who followed you around the shop making you feel pressurized into buying something? Compare this to a sales assistant that is friendly when you walk in, asks if they can help and tells you if you need any help to just ask, saying all this with a smile on their face?

1. Building rapport is not just about making friends with the prospect.
   It is about creating trust. Can they trust you to solve the problem they have? Even if you are a likeable person and they find you funny, but they do not trust you, they will not do business with you.
   
   
2. Develop an interest in the customer, not just his money / appointment.
   People can spot a mile off if all you're interested in is yourself and have a 'what's in it for me' attitude. How do they do this? Because you always talk about yourself, and use words like me, I, our. If you have a high turnover of clients, this could be the reason.
   
   
3. Be polite and courteous at all time.
   This starts from the moment you meet them, the firm shake of their hand whilst maintaining eye contact, and looking at them during the conversation. They say eyes are the door to the soul.
   
   
4. Learn to style flex.
   There are lots of personality profiles and I was amazed when I first discovered them. There are four key personality profiles and everyone fits into one of them. You need to learn how you deal with the four different personality styles because you deal with different personalities in a very different way. This is all about understanding your prospect and being on their wave length. This will help you with the sales process and therefore give you every chance of making that all important sale.
   
   
5. There is a great saying when it comes to building rapport - you have two ears, and one mouth.
   Use them that way. All this means is do more listening than talking. When you are talking, you are not learning about your client. When you realize you are talking too much, shut up and ask a question.
   
   
6. Ask questions, especially open ended questions that encourage and prompt the prospect to talk rather than closed questions that will receive a Yes or No answer. The telemarketing consultant has to work a lot harder to keep the conversation going if the presentation has lots of closed questions rather than open questions.
   
   
7. Encourage the customer to talk about themselves, their experiences, their views and opinions. Even ask them advice on a certain situation. This makes you seem more human and not the typical sales person that is only interested in their money. You will be amazed at the amount of respect you will gain.
   
   
8. Relax and think of this as a face to face meeting as if you were interviewing this person and their company to see if they are suitable for you to work together. You ask the questions and listen intently to the answer, all the time thinking if this person is suitable for your company and can they help you get to where you want to get to and if you can help them? By doing this, it takes the pressure and the stress out of the meeting.
   
   

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