Ths is how I build rapport without having to worry about what I'm going to say

I've been doing remote closing for about a year and a bit now.

During this time, I've taken almost 700 1st and 2nd calls. 

I’ve also sold £716K worth of 3-month retainers at a 60% close rate. 

I’ve invested so many hours into nailing the start of my discovery calls that I rarely experience any pushback from prospects wanting to impose their agenda on the call. 

But do you want to know a secret? I don't try to build tons of rapport.

I use the same 4 basic rapport-building questions every time, and it works a treat.

Let me show you how it goes so you can take the pressure off yourself and get every call off to a decent start.

Question #1: "Hi {Name}, how’s it going?"

Start with the basics. 

Ask a low-pressure question like you would with a friend. 

The goal here is to demonstrate that you are a regular human being going about your day, relatively unattached to the outcome of this call.

Here's what it sounds like:

Sharing a little about your day sets a comfortable tone for the rest of the conversation.

Question #2: "How’s your week going so far?"

You don't want to come across too impersonal, so I like to expand on my first question by asking them about their week. 

I say something like this:

Avoid delving into detailed conversations about their week. 

The aim is to gauge their communication style and create a brief connection before transitioning into talking about their business.

Question #3: "Are you happy if we get started?"

By this point, you've probably been speaking for 1-2 minutes. 

Now, I like to ask if they're happy to get down to business, as it feels polite.

Here's how it tends to go: 

More often than not, they sound relieved that I want to start and not continue the small talk. It is a business call, after all. 

Another benefit of getting down to business quickly is you avoid the chances of the prospect derailing your sales process by taking the lead by asking you a bunch of questions. 

Question #4: "Did you see the agenda email I sent you?"

I like to wrap up the rapport section with a question about the agenda email. 

Regardless of their answer, it allows you to seamlessly move into the upfront agreement stage, where you set the scene for the call so you can guide them through your process without resistance. 

It goes: 

And that’s it! Building rapport doesn’t need to be stressful. You don’t need to impress anyone or become best friends with the prospect. 

All you need to do is use these 3-4 questions at the start to demonstrate you are a regular human being, assess their comms style and respectfully get down to business. 

The actual rapport will come when the prospect feels like you are listening to them and understand their situation.

What do you think? Do you agree with this, or do you like to build more of a connection off the bat?