Establishing rapport with your customers is essential to the home buying journey. Think of it this way: Buying a home is the biggest purchase that most people will make in their lifetime, and they want (and deserve!) to have a new home sales agent they can trust to have open, transparent conversations with. Building rapport helps you cultivate strong and lasting connections with your customers.
Establishing strong rapport can help home buyers feel understood and respected as both potential customers and real people searching for a new home. When customers trust you to guide them through the home buying process, tough conversations become straightforward, objection handling goes smoother, and closing the deal isn’t an uphill battle. Instead, it’s a collaborative process that leaves all parties satisfied.
But how do you build rapport? We break down our tried-and-true tactics below.
How to Build Rapport with Customers vs. Finding Common Ground
Many sales professionals may think that finding common ground with their customers is enough to establish rapport, but it’s only the first step. Common ground is discovered by opening up and conversing with customers, a common practice when initially getting to know the buyer. However, to build rapport, you must build on that common ground and establish yourself as a warm and friendly sales associate who cares about the buyer. By combining the two, you are well on your way to building trust with your customers.
How to Establish Rapport
1. MOPFI
At New Home Star, “Make Other People Feel Important” (MOPFI) is a foundational sales training and education component. But what does this look like in the field? It’s really very simple. When meeting a potential buyer for the first time, shake their hand confidently, smile with strong eye contact, give a genuine, authentic compliment, and remember their name throughout the entire interaction and those in the future. Don’t be shy about recognizing something that you value and respect about the person. These efforts will help lower a buyer's defenses from the first interaction, starting the relationship on the right foot.
2. Match the Buyer’s Energy
From the second you meet a customer, paying attention to their energy and body language is vital. Greeting a reserved, soft-spoken customer with an extremely animated welcome can make things awkward. Instead, focus on mirroring and matching the person in front of you. This means mimicking their hand gestures and head movements while standing in a similar posture. When speaking, match their pace and tone. Be sure to slow the rate of speech when learning about the needs and wants of a new home.
3. You’re Human, Too
Make the home buyers feel they’re just like you. If you, like the buyer, have two small children, share a recent anecdote about your kids. If the buyer is a proud dog mom, talk about local dog parks you and your pup love visiting. Sharing “me too” stories and statements makes you sound more human and less like a salesperson. Continually ask questions about themselves and their family to better understand their lives and plans for the future. Don’t make every conversation revolve around the new home — the people who will be living there are the most important, and showing empathy and interest will go a long way.
4. Common Interests and Hobbies
As stated at the beginning of this article, finding common ground is one of the easiest ways to build rapport with your customers. Through your conversations, learn what their hobbies are, what sports teams they support, or what annual vacation spots they love. These shared interests or hobbies make for an easy conversation starter for all interactions moving forward. One of our favorite tactics is sending a quick congratulations email when their favorite sports team wins. It helps build rapport without even mentioning the home.
5. Laugh Together
Sharing a laugh is one of the simplest ways to build rapport, and its effectiveness is almost always immediate. While it’s important not to force humor, keeping conversations lighthearted and inserting an occasional joke throughout is a good place to start.
Remember these five tips the next time you’re wondering how to build rapport with customers. Learn more about New Home Star’s industry-leading sales training to kickstart your sales team in 2025.
