Four Ways to Build Rapport

In our busy world the person who stands out in the crowd usually gets noticed. In client development, it's not about drawing attention to yourself or even your service. It's about getting your clients to discover for themselves what it is they want and then realizing how you are the best fit solution. In the first few minutes of interacting with a potential client, legal professionals have an opportunity to get in sync. A key part of that is bonding with the potential client and building rapport.

Here are four ways to build rapport with a prospect:

#1 Active Listening

Active listening involves using two techniques: restatement or paraphrasing. A restatement uses some of the exact words the prospect used whereas paraphrasing attempts to summarize the overall thoughts using different words. In each instance the legal professional is validating their understanding of what was said. Potential clients don't merely want to be heard, they want to be understood. This simple act builds rapport because the client realizes the legal professional is listening intently for the meaning.

#2 Mirror Body Language

If meeting in person, non-verbal communication, or body language, makes up 55% of total communication. Tonality is 38% and only 7% is verbal (the words). It is easy to mis-read body language if there are other environmental factors affecting it. For example, a person with cross-arms or legs is not necessarily in disagreement or blocking your message -- they may be cold or more comfortable in that position. A good way to build rapport is to mirror what you see, not immediately, but a few seconds later. By doing this for the first couple of minutes, the potential client begins to connect at a subconcious level.

#3 Pacing

Legal professionals can also establish rapport from pacing, or matching the tonality, pitch, and rhythm of the potential client. If the client speaks softly, the legal professional speaks softly. If the client speaks pretty fast, the legal professional may have to pick up the pace and speak more quickly than normal. The idea is not to draw attention to yourself, but to comfortably mimic in as natural a way as possible so that the client "sees themself" in your actions.

#4 Match Their Word Style

Another way to build rapport is to match the word style that the prospect tends to use most. Most people use one of three primary senses when speaking: words that relate to sight, hearing, or touch. The characteristics of a visual person might include processing in pictures, thinking fast, very animated with gestures while talking, and saying, "I get the picture" or "show me." Characteristics of an auditory would be thinking in words and sounds, even tones and steady conversation, and use of sound words such as "clear as a bell" or "I hear you." The characteristics of the kinesthetic person would be influenced by how they feel, slow breathing, low-pitched voices speaking at a slow pace, and using phrases such as "get a grip" or "solid as a rock." When the legal professional detects which sense dominates, slip into using the same style to build rapport.

Image courtesy of alexisdc / FreeDigitalPhotos.net