The Downside of Being Too Friendly with Your Prospects

The problem with rapport building on its own is that your prospects will sense you have a hidden agenda.

Imagine you’re a doctor and they’re a patient and they just walked into your clinic for a scheduled appointment.

Most doctors don’t focus on rapport building; they get straight down to their patient’s problem using bedside manner.

Chit chat and rapport building have always been an accepted norm taught by the traditional sales gurus.

People are only supposed to buy from those they know and like, right?

But rapport building on its own does not create deep trust between you and your prospects.

If you find yourself defaulting to chit chat and rapport building to get your prospects know and like you – and you’re finding that approach ineffective – then try this phrase to refocus the conversation back to their core financial challenges:

Would you happen to have a written, detailed, and customized financial plan from your current advisor that you can share with me?

This question immediately swings the conversation back to the reason why they’re there.

You’ll hear things like: “I don’t have one,” “They didn’t create one,” “I didn’t know I needed one,” etc.

From there you can explain the importance of having such a plan, which naturally leads to discussing how you can help them create one.

Your goal is not to build rapport with your prospects. It is to keep them focused on the problems that originally led them to you.

Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after sales conversion expert for Financial Advisors. His newest book, “Unlock The Sales Game” has become an instant best-seller among Financial Advisers worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary client growth consultation with Ari or one of his trust-based consultants. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Australian Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the Financial Services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.

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