As a financial planner or advisor, building rapport is the first step to establishing trust with your prospective client. Rapport refers to a positive state in relationships where both parties communicate well and respect and understand each other. This is important as building trust helps clients to feel comfortable opening up around an emotive subject, such as money. Developing a strong rapport is also important for when, as an adviser or planner, you have to deliver bad news as your connection with the client can make the situation easier to manage.
Therefore, in honour of Talk Money Week (4th-8th November), James Woodfall and Cliff Lansley, authors of The Heart of Finance, have shared their tips on how to build and gauge rapport with clients to create a safe environment for clients to talk about money.
When engaging with a client adequate time needs to be allocated in every meeting to build rapport. This is because, when rapport is in place, conversations flow easily. Financial advisors’ and financial planners’ roles are based on being a trusted adviser in the client’s lives. The quicker you can establish that trust, the easier your job will be. Rapport building is best done at the beginning of the meeting. Some might call it small talk but, while that is a fair description, don’t downplay its value.
If you are meeting your client face-to-face at your office, for example, then rapport building starts in the lobby when you meet the client, and as you walk with them to the meeting room. These small conversations that take place before and after meetings are very important for forming trust and relationship building.
Here are some simple ways to begin building rapport with your client:
- Use their name.
- Shake their hand.
- Find common ground.
- Use context references – eg ‘The weather has changed for the better today.’
- Offer some information about yourself to get information back.
It is important to be aware that there are cultural differences when it comes to rapport. Getting down to business too quickly can be frowned upon in some cultures, such as in Japan or many Middle Eastern countries. On the other hand, a quicker approach is often valued in Scandinavia or Germany. These are only broad generalisations – everyone is different – and you need to read the client and the situation, and judge whether they welcome your small talk or not and move on when you need to.
Listen and watch carefully for the volume of their voice, the rate of their speech, the gestures they use, how they use language and how they interact with you. For example, if someone regularly uses your name, that might be their style. If you then match that style using their name more often in conversation, this will promote better rapport between you. This is sometimes referred to as ‘mirroring’.
The FORCED model
To some, rapport building comes naturally. They are good at making small talk and building rapport is not something that they need to give too much thought to. If that’s not you, though, and you feel that you need some help structuring your initial conversations with prospective clients, the FORCED model for rapport building will help.
FORCED was designed for use by undercover air marshals to help them engage people of interest to decide whether they are a security threat – the results are impressive. FORCED is built around the following topics:
- Family/friends
- Occupation
- Recreation
- Current events
- Education/skills
- Dreams/plans
You can use statements, prompts and questions (such as how, what, when, where, who, tell me, explain, describe) to explore these topics with your client so that you can start building rapport before you move on to business matters. It’s wise to avoid ‘why’ questions, as they can sometimes come across as judgemental.
Here are some examples:
- Family: Is that your family in the photo?
- Occupation: What do you do for work? Oh, you’re a landscaper. Tell me a bit more about that.
- Current events: What do you think about what’s going on in politics right now?
- Recreation: What do you do on the weekends when you’re not working?
Gauging rapport
How do you know when rapport has been established? Some markers for rapport are; laughing together, empathy, listening, mutual interest and attention to each other, and the easy flow of conversation. If you notice these markers in your initial meeting with your client, then it’s likely that you are ‘in rapport’.
Also, consider the level of disclosure. When we are in rapport, we feel safe disclosing information, even to someone that we have just met. But if your prospective client is not disclosing, take a step back to less personal ground. Move away from personal questions as you may be going too deep too quickly. Keep the conversation light.
You may be familiar with the concept of matching and mirroring which will also help you test if you are in rapport with your client. When people are in rapport, they tend to match and mirror each other’s pace and tone of voice, body language, postures and gestures. As a test, you could change your posture, for example, leaning back in your chair, and if your prospective client mirrors you with their body language, then this is a marker of successful rapport as it indicates that your client feels comfortable in your presence and with the conversation. If you are having a video meeting, you might move closer to your camera if your client is close to their camera. However, be aware of the risks here because if the client realises you are copying their body language, this may damage the interaction as they will think you are mimicking them and you will lose their trust.
You can also consider the speed of a client’s speech. They may be fast talkers or talk more slowly due to regional sociolect/variances. If you can get closer to the pace of their speech it will be a subtle way to build rapport.
These tips aren’t don’t only apply to the first client meeting, it’s important to show a continued interest in your client and their concerns to develop a lasting rapport. By tapping into your clients emotions, taking the time to understand them, and being empathetic you will be able to create a comfortable environment and build effective and profitable client relationships.
