Building rapport quickly is crucial in sales, especially when cold calling.

To close a sale, the prospect must like and trust you. Otherwise you will have a non-product/price barrier to overcome.

Rapport is simply the act of connecting with someone to build a sense of trust. If done correctly, your prospect will like you and feel as if they've known you for a while.

If this step is skipped or done incorrectly, everything you say afterward will be taken with great skepticism.

Get To Know You

One of the best ways to get someone to like you is to like them. If you've read the classic, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by the late Dale Carnegie, you know that the quickest way to build a connection with a stranger is to genuinely take interest in them.

This could be as simple as admiring an achievement they've had or a well designed office. But it must be genuine in order to be effective.

Once you show your prospect that you're truly interested in them as a human being and not just a commission check, they will naturally take interest in you and start to like you.

Speak Their Language

There has been a whole new generation of training lately revolving around Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). While it seems most of it is smoke and mirrors, it does have some important points you can use.

To simplify some of the important parts of NLP, remember that most people are stimulated by either sight, sound, or touch in their thinking. If they use words like "I can see" or "this looks," you can assume they are visually inclined and you should use visual references when talking about your product. If they say things such as "I like the sound of that" or "that sounds good," they prefer to hear things and you should present in those terms. And finally, if they talk about how something feels such as "feels like something is missing" or "what's holding you back," they respond to touch and you should state your solutions in a physical sense.

While this might sound extremely basic... and even like a gimmick... remember most people like people who are like themselves. Which leads into the next technique:

Mirror and Matching
Have you ever felt uncomfortable or even annoyed when someone talks to you with high energy and enthusiasm, while you're having a bad day?

That's exactly what mirror and matching attempts to solve. Match the energy and enthusiasm of your prospect to truly connect with them. If they are slow and dry, talk to them in a similar way. Likewise, if they are talking a mile a minute and are full of energy, do the same or close to it.

The closer you get to their state, the easier it will be for the other person to make a connection with you.

If you do talk about their likes and interests in the beginning, be sure to transition into the sales call within 5 minutes or you risk turning the visit into a social one instead of a business call.

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