A rapport is a kind of temporary relationship or point of contact between one person and the other. A rapport creates an emotional connection between two people. Creating a good rapport guarantees sales, holding all other factors constant.

As we pointed out earlier, it is easier to sell after you have created some emotions in the prospect than when they are using pure logic. Who is easier to sell to, your mother or a stranger? The answer is pretty obvious. Your mother will more often and easily give you the sale than a stranger. Why is this so? Because your mother does not relate with you based on pure logic but some form of emotional bond. This is a rapport. It is an emotional bridge that overlooks all logical shortcomings.

If this permanent emotional bond works, why don‟t we create a temporary emotional bond that will help us accomplish our objective? A permanent bond works more the same as a temporary bond. They all work under the same principles. They make people suspend logic and make irrational decisions that are not necessarily in their best interest.

A rapport does not mean that we can sell substandard products by just creating a rapport. No, it just enhances our chances of making the sale. The product should solve the need for the prospect and this is the first consideration. Why do people visit a store in town without even caring about who the owner is? They

do this because they need that a certain product in the store can help satisfy. In this case, they do not care about rapport. Therefore, your product satisfying the need of the prospect is the first consideration above all others.

When we talk about building a rapport, we are talking about finding a common point between the salesperson and the prospect. It is about discovering something that you share in common and taking advantage of it to create a bond. In the earlier example, why would your mother buy your product easily and effortlessly? It is because you come from the same family and you carry the same DNA and blood. This is a common point for both of you. Your friend will also buy your product easily and effortlessly because you have the same social circles and interests. It is a common emotional bond.

When dealing with a stranger, identify what you share in common and talk about it before you start talking about your product. For example, you may have the same political view or the same social philosophy. You may be supporters of the same football team, you may be alumni of the same university, you may come from the same county or state, you may have the same professional training, and so on. It creates the same bond as the mother-child relationship. Although the magnitude may be different, nature and effect will be the same.

The greatest problem is that this information may not be readily available for you to know it. The best place to start is to give them a compliment about themselves or their environment. As they explain further about it, find a common point, and make use of it.

Narrow down it and make it the subject of your discussion. As you talk about what you share in common, an invisible emotional bond will be created and this will have the same effect as selling to your mother. It will make the sales process effortless.

You can also do your research about the client to discover what they like and what they hate. If the prospect is a celebrity, the information will be readily available but if they are not, you have to dig it up through other means. You can visit their website, their social media timelines or pages, you can ask a colleague, and so on. This research will help you create a rapport that will guarantee the sale.

Complements also act as a way of creating rapport. You can congratulate the prospect on their milestone achievement. The complement has to be timely and relevant. It has to be in an area that is valuable to the prospect. Let them know that you know about it and you truly care. Let them know about their impact on the community and how they are changing lives through their activities. Always do it before you talk about your product.

The greatest mistake people make in sales is to try to sell before creating a rapport. The sales process, in this case, becomes challenging and full of objections. They find doing sales very hard and challenging. This means that they close less and less and this will affect their revenue and commissions. This will in turn affect their standards of living. When their standards of living are affected, they become miserable, desperate, and bitter. In return, they become pushy, ineffective, and emotional. The prospect must notice these qualities in any salesperson. This is because

people capture the nonverbal signals more than the verbal ones in any interaction or communication. Words easily pass us by but physical signs do not. Our eyes are more receptive than our ears.

People are more emotional than logical. Our emotions tend to influence our logic in a big way. This is why emotions are the greatest hindrance to our success. Emotions of fear, hatred, love, jealousy, etc. will always influence our logical reasoning in a big way. This is why it is impossible to convince an angry person. They will be so illogical but they will think that they are logical and rational. This is because they are thinking with their emotions rather than using their emotions to think.

When we talk of using your emotions to think, it means using your emotions as fuel to drive your logical thoughts. For example, I work hard because I hate poverty. I made a logical decision to work hard and I enforced it will my emotions to sustain it. This is using my emotions to think. Many people will avoid a good deal because they are afraid. They are thinking with their emotions. If they had used their logical thoughts, they would have seen a good deal and overcome the fear associated with it. Because many people think with their emotions, they live a limited life and overlook many opportunities that had the potential of changing their lives for good. Use your emotions to enforce your decisions.

In the same line, always use the emotions of the prospect to enforce the sales process and close the sale. With this, your sales career will be easy and you will make more sales and money to live a good life.