Building initial rapport is an ideal topic for your sales training, as it helps both new and existing staff find pockets of connection that opens up the prospect for a productive conversation.

1. Provide Value: It is incredibly important to provide value to your prospective clients. Listen! You need to be able to demonstrate that you have the answers to their questions and the solution to their problems. And this doesn’t just mean value to an organization, but to an individual person. Since you won’t always be talking to an organization’s decision makers, you need to give your prospects the information they need to be able to make a case to their boss for why they should purchase your products or services.

2. Provide Strategy: When communicating with a prospect, you can’t just tell them that you have a solution for their problem. You need to understand their specific needs. If you can draw parallels to existing case studies that have been solved for similar requirements, this will not only let them know what you can do, but also provide evidence that you have experience solving problems like the ones they are looking to address.

3. Understand Their Pain: Most people aren’t looking to make change for the sake of making change; they have problems they need to overcome and issues they need to address. Understanding a prospect’s "real" pain points is essential in building rapport with them. Get to know them!