The Benefits Of Rapport Are Innumerable

Business.

The art of maintaining boundaries in rapport - "it is the business of thought to define things, to find the boundaries. It is the business of art to give things shape. " - Vance Palmer. Thought, is a ceaseless, indeed process of definition.

The benefits of rapport are innumerable. - it' s one of the early lessons i learned about the use of rapport. But there is also a downside to it. As a young man I sold encyclopedias from door - to - door. I' d learn about their families, their jobs, their kids, and all of the things that were going on in their lives. I' d go into a person' s house and immediately begin the process of gaining rapport with them.

One time I was working in Washington in a little city that was undergoing some very difficult financial times. - but i had booked a room and made the travel plans and gotten into it and so i had to make some sales. I didn' t know it before I started working in the area. I had a heck of a time getting appointments and when I finally did get appointments I would sit down with my prospects, and learn about them, and make my presentation, and eventually I would ask them, 'Do you see the value in what I' ve shown you so far? ' 'Sure. These are great encyclopedias. ' 'And can you see with our answering service how your child will have help answering all of their questions? I definitely see the value.

And couldn' t you also see yourself using these books as well? ' 'Absolutely. - so let' s get you started. ' 'well, you see, we' d like to, but with the mill closing' and they' d go into their sad story. I' d love to use these and I know my children would benefit immensely. ' 'Certainly. I was in such deep rapport with them that after they' d get done telling me their story, I' d buy into it. Until I realized, all of a sudden, I think this, oops is kind of hurting me, and what I did, is I didn, one day' t have as much rapport, or so I thought, didn' t have nearly as much, but they liked the materials so well and even though they didn' t have the money, they said they were going to go ahead and buy it. I' d almost be in tears. 'Well, I understand that, of course you' re not going to buy anything from me today, you know, I mean, we can always come back at some later time in the future, and if you just make sure and have my information, my card, we' ll be able to come in when you do have some money, when you' re able to get back to work. ' And, I did this day, after day, after day. After they' d bought it, they told me their story about how the mill had closed, and how they weren' t working, but their kids were the most important thing to them that even though they didn' t have the money, their kids were most important and they were going to do it.

They were not going to allow them to suffer because of their financial situation, and they would do whatever it took in order to get their kids the education they needed. - what a revelation that was so even though you' re not working, that may play a part. What this story illustrates is that I realized if you jump into rapport with somebody and get in there really deep, you might forget about your outcome. We want the our clients to be putty in our hands. When that happens you become putty in their hands, instead of the other way around. When creating this rapport, maintain your outcome.

Set it strong in your heart that no matter what they have to say to you, your outcome is going to be realized. - maintain the intention of what it is you' re going to do. Intention is what makes these skills so powerful. Think about this before each and every sales interaction: what is your intention? Your intention is not to make new friends, your intention is to sell.