How Do You Build Rapport in Real Estate

Summary

Real estate agents have 10-15 seconds to make a strong first impression when prospecting over the phone. Learn proven rapport-building techniques, including mirroring voice patterns, using strategic pauses, and internalizing scripts for authentic conversations, to help you make the most of those seconds. Plus, overcome call reluctance, prepare before dialing, and make prospects feel heard through empathy and active listening. Master these conversation skills to secure more listing appointments and build trust with frustrated expireds and FSBOs.

GET IN THE DOOR!

The key to a fruitful (and profitable) career in real estate is to be a listing agent. And the key to being the best possible listing agent in your area is persistent and consistent real estate lead generation.

Top-producing agents know that working the phones daily to engage prospects helps build a consistent revenue stream. These agents understand that developing rapport with a homeowner is essential to securing an invitation to preview the home. Getting in the door is the most important step toward gaining a listing. That’s because the magic unfolds once you are face-to-face with your prospect.

It’s estimated that, when engaging a prospect for the first time, you have between 10-15 seconds to make a good impression. Or, in other words, to build some initial rapport. 

For some people, building rapport is much easier in person. When phone prospecting with a lead generation and CRM platform like Vulcan7, you don’t have the luxury of an initial face-to-face meeting. So, you have to start by building rapport with clients on the phone, and you have to try and connect quickly.

Today’s post will discuss building rapport through practical conversation skills. This is something that doesn’t come easy for most agents. Hopefully, we can share a few tips to convince you to think differently about approaching and engaging your prospects.

WHAT IS RAPPORT

Rapport refers to a harmonious and positive relationship characterized by mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation between individuals. Establishing rapport is essential for effective communication and collaboration in various contexts, including business, personal relationships, and professional interactions.

Rapport forms the foundation of forming close, meaningful relationships between people. A natural connection forms when you meet someone you like and trust, and who may have a point of view you can relate to.

Let’s look at some of the elements that go into building rapport.

• Building trust is fundamental to rapport. Trust involves reliability, honesty, and a belief that the other person has your best interests in mind.
• Effective communication is crucial for rapport. This involves conveying information clearly and actively listening to others, understanding their perspectives, and responding appropriately.
• Being able to understand and share the feelings of another person is a key component of rapport. Empathy helps create a connection by demonstrating that you recognize and respect the emotions and experiences of others.
• Finding shared interests, values, or experiences helps create a sense of connection. People feel more comfortable and connected when they discover commonalities with others.
• Treating others respectfully, regardless of differences, is a fundamental aspect of rapport. This includes being considerate of their opinions, boundaries, and cultural sensitivities.
• Positive and friendly interactions contribute to the development of rapport. A positive attitude, humor, and a welcoming demeanor can help create a more enjoyable and comfortable atmosphere.
• Being adaptable to the communication styles and preferences of others is important. Flexibility in your approach can demonstrate a willingness to connect on the other person’s terms.

In real estate prospecting, building rapport lays the foundation for effective collaboration, understanding, and cooperation. It contributes to a positive and constructive environment where individuals feel valued and supported.

BE A PROSPECTING POWERHOUSE!

This is worth repeating: there is one primary goal to all prospecting, especially follow-up: GET IN THE DOOR! Once you’ve crossed the barrier and have enough of the homeowner’s confidence to allow you in their door, you are well on your way to success.

But the first thing you need to do is acknowledge and conquer the fear that is natural to most prospecting agents.

Prospects on the other end of the phone can sense your fear and anxiety. As such, it’s difficult for them to have confidence in your abilities.

As you become more comfortable with your conversational skills, you’ll sense a reduction in your anxiety, which puts you in a more powerful position during the call. As you attempt to build rapport during your prospecting conversations, you need to be:

• Captivating… to grab their attention.
• Engaging… to create effective dialogue.
• Charming… to build trust.

Many agents go into prospecting calls weighed down by negative self-talk: “I’m too shy,” “I’m not very gregarious,” “It’s hard for me to show emotion.” Again, the person on the other end of the call will likely sense you have those feelings.

There’s another approach to making these calls, and that is for you to adopt this mentality: YOU NEED TO BE A DIFFERENT PERSON!

In your personal time, you adopt various personas: mom, coach, friend, etc. But when you fire up your Vulcan 7 REAL ESTATE CRM each morning, you need to view yourself as a PROSPECTING POWERHOUSE! Like a stage actor, you’re playing a role. You shed the persona that guides your personal life and becomes someone else, someone totally different. In fact, before you start calling, look at yourself in the mirror and AFFIRM that you are a PROSPECTING POWERHOUSE, and nothing can stop you.

PRE-PROSPECTING ROUTINE

Rapport-building conversations are most effective when achieving one or even both of the following goals:

1. You entertain the prospect, creating a pleasurable experience for them.
2. You provide utility, providing some level of value.

Before you make any call, wrap your head around these goals. Be clear about what you want. Conversation isn’t about you talking about yourself. It’s about listening, interjecting, and building engagement and rapport.

Real estate agents playing at the top of their game may talk to dozens of prospects every day. Unless these are executional calls with existing clients or a touch-base with someone in your sphere, the bulk of these interactions is with strangers. This is where building rapport with prospects becomes essential for navigating toward a successful outcome.

Most agents make the critical mistake of not preparing for each call. They don’t have a strategy or purpose for the call.

This can be particularly intimidating when calling new expireds. They are most likely highly frustrated (and even angry) that they haven’t been able to sell their property. And your call may be one of many they’ve received that morning, most of which deliver a very similar “expired” script. After a day of agent calls, they’ll begin to notice that everyone sounds the same.

So, how can you start building rapport before getting on a call? The key lies in preparation: taking time to understand the client’s needs, their property, and market dynamics are easy ways to give you a head start.

That’s why it’s important to have a routine before you begin calling. Get your head around shifting from your daily persona to your role as a prospecting powerhouse.

How will you transform yourself? Or, maybe put a better way, how do you get yourself pumped up to play that role to perfection? Perhaps you can:

• Have a powerful affirmation that has worked in the past.
• Play a song that inspires you.
• Watch an inspiring scene from a movie that you love.

These ideas can serve as “triggers” that tell you it’s time to put on your game face.

REAL ESTATE LEAD GENERATION CONVERSATIONS

Remember one important lesson: You’re not the star of the show. The person on the other end of the phone is the star of the show. It’s not about you, it’s about them.

Working with your Vulcan7, industry-leading EXPIRED and FSBO leads, you will have many opportunities to work on your rapport-building skills over the phone. To that end, here are a few things your prospect will be looking for during the call:

They want to be entertained!

Before you begin dialing, relax, loosen up, and proceed with an attitude that it will be a fun, rewarding experience for both of you. Even if your previous call was a disaster, go into the next one thinking it’s your first and ignoring what happened on the previous call. How can you be a more entertaining and engaging caller?

Prepare for the obvious questions so that you sound comfortable and relaxed.

For example, if your expired-listing prospect goes on an angry rant about all the agents who are calling to bug him/her, you can have fun and even be a little self-deprecating: “I’d be angry too. I work with real estate agents, and I wouldn’t want them calling me.” Perhaps you’ll get a chuckle by being empathetic and real. And making someone laugh can go a long way towards building trust.

Ask awesome questions.

Show that you’re interested in what they have to say and probe with great open-ended questions. Keep going deeper with each question.

Tell stories.

Every salesperson should embrace one essential truth about building rapport and trust: FACTS TELL, BUT STORIES SELL. People love stories, and everyone has a story to tell. Stories break the ice, and we all need icebreakers. “That reminds me….”

Your prospects must feel as if they matter.

Remember that you’re talking to the star of the show. So, how do you make someone feel like they matter?

• Mirror what they say so that they know they’ve been heard and understood. Behavioral research shows that mirroring and matching (copying other people’s body language, mannerisms, and repeating their words) helps build trust and establishes rapport. Obviously, over the phone, you can’t mirror someone’s body language. But you can mirror, and even match, their voice intonations, inflections and rate of speech. In fact, you can start getting on your prospect’s wavelength right from the start just by listening carefully and mirroring their “hello.”
• Try your best to relate to their situation. Instead of being a salesperson on the hunt for the next deal, be there to help the prospect. Be someone who has likely gone through a similar situation in selling their own home.
• Empathy rules! The Harvard Business School did a study some years back showing that the number one reason salespeople did not sell more was a “lack of empathy” with their prospects. It makes sense because the definition of empathy is “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” But always remember you can’t fake empathy. Don’t say “I understand” unless you truly understand.

ADDITIONAL RAPPORT-BUILDING STRATEGIES

Here are a few behavioral techniques you can also include to ensure you’re doing your best when creating a relationship with a stranger over the phone:

Be genuine: Nobody can argue with the value of working with real estate scripts. However, instead of just reading your script, try to “internalize” it. Make the script sound like it’s yours, and it sounds natural in your own unique tone. Add your own words and inflection points. By being open and sincere, you can create effective connections with people who would be otherwise closed off if they feel like they’re getting pitched. 

If you have a role-playing partner, you can practice your internalized script every morning to help you get comfortable with it before hitting the phones. The other good thing about internalizing your script is that it frees you up to listen more intently, and to ask better questions.

Use strategic pauses: This is challenging because it’s not in our nature to pause, especially when talking to someone on the phone. In fact, many agents often power through a phone conversation, often because they’re so excited to have actually made a contact and don’t want to waste the opportunity. But here’s the problem: when you’re powering through you could be sending the message that you’re not listening to what’s being said. Know where to add a pause in your script to catch your breath and let critical points hang in the air for a few beats.

Remember that natural conversations have ebbs and flows, and you can control these lulls to pique the prospect’s interest.

Focus on your downswing: Research shows that an upswing in the tone of your voice makes a prospect feel doubt and skepticism. But the downswing allows them to feel certainty, which translates to authority and trust. Remember, your voice plays a pivotal role in building rapport with prospects, as it’s the primary tool for communication and persuasion over the phone.

Pacing and lead: The more you lead an initial conversation with enthusiasm, the more likely it is the prospect will follow your lead. Just make sure it’s genuine enthusiasm, because most people can tell when another person sounds fake.

Record yourself: One of the most valuable things you can do is to record yourself in actual conversations with prospects. You’ll quickly take note of any language quirks or habits you may have, such as the excessive use of “uhm” and “you know.”

Remember, building rapport over the phone isn’t always easy, but with strategies like mirroring and matching, strategic pauses, and focusing on your downswing, you can effectively bridge the distance.

As we’ve written previously, when selling real estate, move your attitude and purpose from “making the sale” to “making a difference” in the life of your prospect. Such an attitude will come across in the tone of your voice, and go a long way toward building critical rapport in an initial call with any prospect.

FINAL TIP

In your effort to build rapport through the art of effective conversation, here are a few traps to avoid:

• In your zeal to close the deal, you do not allow them (the star of the show) to openly share their thoughts, concerns, and feelings.
• Unprepared, you might allow an awkward silence to creep into the call, suggesting that you don’t know what you’re talking about (mainly because you’re not talking!). Have your scripts handy (or fully memorized) so you’re never at a loss for words.
• You go off-strategy. The prospect’s job is to get you to veer away from your strategy. You need to control the flow of the conversation without dominating it.

THE VULCAN7 DIFFERENCE

Even if you’re a natural at building rapport, it won’t matter unless you can talk to someone ready to sell. That’s where Vulcan7 comes into play. Top-producing agents throughout the country rely on Vulcan7 to deliver the BEST leads, phone numbers, and emails to their desktops every morning. Plus, you’ll be part of an incredible community of like-minded professionals who offer encouragement and share tips with one another.

CONTACT US to learn more about Vulcan7’s lead generation system.