Marketing Rapport - 3 Tips!
Marketing Rapport - 3 Tips!
Let me tell you a little story.
Earlier this week, I got a call from a salesman after leaving a message about getting my stereo repaired. My expensive, but aging Nakamichi CD player is on the fritz, & I’m virtually tuneless. Not good.
It was a notable conversation for anybody interested in the art & science of persuasion. And in particular, the role rapport plays in that process.
My apprehension was this.
I bought the unit about 8 years ago, & I’m thinking. OK, this is going to cost me some money. I could probably now go out & buy a new CD player for the same amount. Just getting an estimate is going to cost me.
So the guy calls up, & immediately starts building rapport with me. How does he do it?
After introducing himself, he says, “So you’ve got an MB-1s, awesome unit, what do you listen to?” I tell him, “I’m into rhythm & blues & jazz”. He probes a little to see what kind of blues I dig, & we find ourselves rapping for a bit about how much we both love the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan.
And then without missing a beat, he says “So I suppose you’re wondering whether technology has advanced so far in 8 years that you could replace your MB-1s with a new unit for pennies on the dollar?
I say, “yes”.
And then he goes on to tell me. “Unless you’re prepared to fork out a sizable chunk of change on a relatively high end unit, your going to lose some of the raw analog warmth & character that oozes faithfully from Stevie’s Fender Stratocaster every time you slide a CD into that Nakamichi”.
And I’m like, Wow, thanks for saving my life dude.
This wasn’t the only guy I called, but I can tell you this. He was the only one I considered doing business with. And it came down to the rapport he created.
So what can we learn from this?
First off, let me point out that while this was a personal interaction, you should take the principle of rapport very seriously when it comes to your marketing.
The fundamentals are thus.
I liked this guy. Because I liked him, I listened to him. Because I listened to him, I believed him. And because I believed him, I bought from him. Sure it wasn’t a huge purchase. But what happened in those few minutes on the telephone takes place in virtually every sale you make, whether you’re an active participant in the process, or not.
You are developing an unspoken relationship with your customers, as a result of both your personal interaction, & every piece of online marketing you deliver.
The challenge is this. How do you generate rapport, when you don’t have the expensive luxury of personal contact with all of your clients at every stage of the buying cycle?
Here are a few ideas.
1) Be a person in your online marketing. Far too many businesses make the dreadful mistake of coming off as stuffy, corporate, & boring, in the name of professionalism. Your business can be professional, & still have character.
This is just as true in b2b & technical sales, as it is in consumer sales.
One of the best things you can do is deliver your marketing message in the first person. You should voice a friendly, rapport-building persona in virtually every kind of direct response advertising you do.
2) Communicate with your prospects, in their own words. If you’re marketing to engineers, & you know they use acronyms, use acronyms. If you’re selling to the CEO, speak in plain English. Just common sense, but so often ignored. If you’re selling b2b, understand that there are multiple decision makers involved. Find a way to speak to them all. Use multiple campaigns if need be.
3) And finally, give your customers more than they expect. It is rare to do business with a company that demonstrates a genuine concern for the actual outcomes that their customers experience as a result of a purchase.
This is very different than simply being committed to the satisfactory performance of your product or service. You build rapport by showing your prospects exactly how what you’re selling “fits in” to what they are already doing.
In the final analysis, your prospects & customers should feel like they know you as a person from your marketing & advertising. More importantly, they should know you as the kind of person they would call a friend, & look forward to hearing from.
Marketing Rapport 3 Tips - To learn more about this author, visit Daniel Levis's Website.
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Establishing & maintaining rapport with your online audience is perhaps the single most important ingredient in marketing online. Actually in marketing period, but even more so online because of the lack of personal contact. Rapport is at the core of selling, always has been, always will be.
Let me tell you a little story.
Earlier this week, I got a call from a salesman after leaving a message about getting my stereo repaired. My expensive, but aging Nakamichi CD player is on the fritz, & I’m virtually tuneless. Not good.
It was a notable conversation for anybody interested in the art & science of persuasion. And in particular, the role rapport plays in that process.
My apprehension was this.
I bought the unit about 8 years ago, & I’m thinking. OK, this is going to cost me some money. I could probably now go out & buy a new CD player for the same amount. Just getting an estimate is going to cost me.
So the guy calls up, & immediately starts building rapport with me. How does he do it?
After introducing himself, he says, “So you’ve got an MB-1s, awesome unit, what do you listen to?” I tell him, “I’m into rhythm & blues & jazz”. He probes a little to see what kind of blues I dig, & we find ourselves rapping for a bit about how much we both love the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan.
And then without missing a beat, he says “So I suppose you’re wondering whether technology has advanced so far in 8 years that you could replace your MB-1s with a new unit for pennies on the dollar?
I say, “yes”.
And then he goes on to tell me. “Unless you’re prepared to fork out a sizable chunk of change on a relatively high end unit, your going to lose some of the raw analog warmth & character that oozes faithfully from Stevie’s Fender Stratocaster every time you slide a CD into that Nakamichi”.
And I’m like, Wow, thanks for saving my life dude.
This wasn’t the only guy I called, but I can tell you this. He was the only one I considered doing business with. And it came down to the rapport he created.
So what can we learn from this?
First off, let me point out that while this was a personal interaction, you should take the principle of rapport very seriously when it comes to your marketing.
The fundamentals are thus.
I liked this guy. Because I liked him, I listened to him. Because I listened to him, I believed him. And because I believed him, I bought from him. Sure it wasn’t a huge purchase. But what happened in those few minutes on the telephone takes place in virtually every sale you make, whether you’re an active participant in the process, or not.
You are developing an unspoken relationship with your customers, as a result of both your personal interaction, & every piece of online marketing you deliver.
The challenge is this. How do you generate rapport, when you don’t have the expensive luxury of personal contact with all of your clients at every stage of the buying cycle?
Here are a few ideas.
1) Be a person in your online marketing. Far too many businesses make the dreadful mistake of coming off as stuffy, corporate, & boring, in the name of professionalism. Your business can be professional, & still have character.
This is just as true in b2b & technical sales, as it is in consumer sales.
One of the best things you can do is deliver your marketing message in the first person. You should voice a friendly, rapport-building persona in virtually every kind of direct response advertising you do.
2) Communicate with your prospects, in their own words. If you’re marketing to engineers, & you know they use acronyms, use acronyms. If you’re selling to the CEO, speak in plain English. Just common sense, but so often ignored. If you’re selling b2b, understand that there are multiple decision makers involved. Find a way to speak to them all. Use multiple campaigns if need be.
3) And finally, give your customers more than they expect. It is rare to do business with a company that demonstrates a genuine concern for the actual outcomes that their customers experience as a result of a purchase.
This is very different than simply being committed to the satisfactory performance of your product or service. You build rapport by showing your prospects exactly how what you’re selling “fits in” to what they are already doing.
In the final analysis, your prospects & customers should feel like they know you as a person from your marketing & advertising. More importantly, they should know you as the kind of person they would call a friend, & look forward to hearing from.
Marketing Rapport 3 Tips - To learn more about this author, visit Daniel Levis's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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