How to Build Rapport in Your Telesales and Telemarketing Calls

So much has been written about building rapport when doing cold calling. The one who builds rapport early takes control of the call and closes the sale. Without rapport, people will have no reason to stay on the phone talking to you.

Some people seem to have a knack in carrying a telephone conversation smoothly. But for others, it is a skill that can be learned. What exactly is rapport and how important is building rapport in telemarketing?

Rapport means establishing a relationship. Hence, building rapport means building a relationship with the customer. This is easily done when in face-to-face communication where one can use body language and facial expression in order to communicate effectively.

However, it's an entirely different ballgame on the telephone. In person, people judge you by how you dress and the way you carry yourself. But in dealing with a prospect over the telephone, people will assess you by the quality of your voice. Some telesales professionals that I know attribute their success to using their voice to "entice" people into buying.

Your voice becomes the biggest factor that influences people to buy on the telephone so your voice takes on the very important role of rapport-building. Realizing this, make sure that you can use your voice to its full potential in cold calling. Take steps to improve the quality of your voice by being aware of your tone, accent, pitch, enunciation, diction, etc.

Give your voice a lift by smiling while talking on the phone. Even if you're not in the best of mood, wearing a smile makes you sound pleasing and friendly. Your friendliness will make people like you and they will most likely do business with you. Do the opposite and you will sound cold, distant and even rude, which can easily put off the person on the other line.

Rapport can also be established by "mirroring" your prospect's voice. Make subtle changes on the qualities of your voice to reflect those of your prospect. If your prospect speaks slowly, you talk slowly. If the prospect speaks with an accent, try to adapt a similar accent.

Use words and phrases the prospect commonly uses. These subtle imitations will turn you into someone the prospect can identify with because they see that you are similar in many ways. Your prospect will trust you because they consider you as a friend and they will never hesitate buying from you.