Struggling To Build A Connection? Try This!

Sometimes you just won’t click with a buyer right away. This doesn’t mean you’ve hit a dead end! Try out these two suggestions for enhancing engagement and creating a more authentic conversation.

Have you ever been in a sales meeting and asked all the right questions, listened intently, but still feel like there is a disconnect in the conversation? I sure have! 

It’s times like these that you have to lean on your emotional intelligence to be aware enough to pause your agenda and take a step back.

There are some buyer styles that simply don’t enjoy having off-topic conversations and dislike the entire process of building rapport. They see it as a waste of time.Those are typically the ones that you may feel the most disconnected from throughout the sales process.

Others are simply distracted and thinking of other things during your meeting. For these reasons, building a connection with your prospect is not as intuitive as it may seem.

Bringing Buyers Back Into The Conversation

The key to connecting with various types of buyers is to bring them back into the conversation in some not-so-typical ways.

Sometimes it’s important to take a break from the questions if you sense a lack of connection.

Remember, people buy from people they like and trust so it’s important to engage all buyers to create that trust and connection.

Here are two suggestions to enhance engagement and create a more authentic conversation.

2 Ways To Create Authenticity In Your Sales Conversations

Admit your flaws.

I can hear you now, “Sarah, why in the world would I ever admit my flaws to a prospect or customer? Won’t that make me look weak and incapable?” 

I get it! But the reason you should admit to mild flaws is that it increases connection with your prospect.

Please note that I said “mild” flaws.It’s obviously not appropriate to tell your customer about when you dropped the ball with another customer and the fallout that ensued.

But mild flaws in daily life, with peers, with family, etc. are something that everyone experiences. Hence, everyone can connect in some way.

A way to deploy this in your sales conversations is when you are asking questions and someone responds that something didn’t go the way they had planned or they were frustrated, you respond with your flaw. 

Here’s an example:Your buyer is sharing that they weren’t as involved as they wished they had been with bringing on their current vendor.

Your response could be: “I’ve made that mistake many times and trusted others to do a job that wasn’t executed well.”

This typically will offer the buyer a sense of relief and camaraderie. You aren’t judging their actions; you are empathizing and engaging them.

Leveraging positive emotions can inspire further conversation and connection with your prospect.

Make positive comparisons.

Who doesn’t like to be complimented? 

It is human nature to prefer to hear positive things about yourself versus negative.You can use this innate preference in your favor in sales conversations.

Comparing your buyer to someone you admire or respect is something they may not normally hear from a salesperson.That disruption to the norm of a typical sales experience can enhance your connection and cause them to lean into the conversation at a deeper level.

It also breeds familiarity as the comparison to someone you know makes them feel like they also know you better.

An example of a response to something your buyer did or said might be: “You know, you remind me of one of my favorite bosses; you both have the same great respect for your teams.” 

You could pick from a myriad of people to compare them to, but make sure it’s genuine and avoids anything that could come off as offensive or make them uncomfortable.

As always, the extremes of positive comparisons could come off as inauthentic so keep it professional and real.

All sales conversations bring about their own set of challenges but tapping into your emotional intelligence and reading your buyer can help avoid ghosting, stalled sales, and objections in the future.

Spend some time thinking of how you can use these not-so-typical connection attempts in your next sales conversation soon!

For more tips on connecting with buyers and engaging in effective sales conversations that actually sell, check out our FREE guide, The A.C.E.D. Buyer Style Playbook.