The Secret of Making Your Customers Like You

If you want to create successful business relationships,
you need to find a fast way to help people feel that they
can trust you. The more they trust you, the more
comfortable they will be about working with you.

When you have that atmosphere between two or more
individuals, you can say you have 'rapport'. The
dictionary defines this as a 'sympathetic relationship or
understanding'.

One of the benefits of rapport is that it allows you to
communicate much more quickly at an unconscious level. This
happens because when people feel comfortable, there are
less doubts and questions from the conscious mind.

To have rapport, you need to create a situation where your
audience (whether it's one person or a large group) will
see you as being like them in some way and so will find it
easier to develop an atmosphere of trust.

It is easier for them to trust you if they feel you are
like them in some way. This also means there is more chance
they will like you. Clearly if they like you and trust you,
they are more likely to do business with you.

Here are some ways in which you can create rapport quickly:

• Match their sensory modality: Take note of the words that
someone is using which indicate their preferred sensory
modality and use similar words and phrases in conversation
with them.

• Match their physiology: Discreetly reflecting back
someone's posture, hand gestures and movements in your own
behavior will cause them say to themselves unconsciously
that 'this person is like me'.

• Matching their voice: If the person is slow and
deliberate, they will feel comfortable if you are the same
way. You should also try, when you speak, to use the
keywords that they use a lot – such as "Alright",
"Actually", "You know what I mean".

• Matching how they deal with information: Some people are
detail oriented and some prefer it brief. If you don't
match the other person's way of dealing with information,
you will find it difficult to build rapport – the
detail-oriented person will be yearning for more
information or the big-picture person will be yawning.

• Matching common experiences: Suppose you are a long way
from home and meet a total stranger who turns out to be
from your hometown. Before long, it's likely you will find
yourself in a very lively conversation. You can make use of
this in your communication by finding some commonality with
your audience to increase the chance of achieving rapport.

However, this will only work if you are yourself and true
to your nature. If you pretend to be something you are
not, you are going to build mistrust. Whenever you are not
getting the results you need with customers, it is likely
that you need to increase your rapport.

How can you show your customers and prospects that you have
something in common with them so that you can build better
rapport?

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Robert Greenshields is a marketing success coach who helps
entrepreneurs and independent professionals develop the
success mindset and marketing strategies for a better
lifestyle. For more info visit
http://www.mindpowermarketing.com