Greeting a Client (Mirroring)
How you conduct yourself while greeting and meeting with a client plays an important role in how successful you will be in building a relationship with them. I had the opportunity to explain this while in India:
Match and Mirror
When you're greeting a client for the first time you always want to disarm them. Timeshare salespeople are great at this because they always match and mirror: They take a look at their client’s posture and reflect it back. If I’m trying to build a relationship with you, I’m going to sit just like you do. If you’re sitting forward, I’m going to start our conversation sitting forward. Over time, I’m going to move back and if I’ve built a rapport with you, you will move with me. If you don’t move with me, then I’ve got to go back to mirroring your posture. You can build massive amounts of rapport with somebody with your body language – it’s very powerful.
Stand Up!
So, when you’re greeting a client, the first thing you should do is stand up. Greet them at the door and invite them in with a very warm welcome. Don’t just sit behind a desk. You want to keep things informal. Tell them, “Come on in.” Ask them if you can get them anything, maybe a drink or a snack. A couple of things will happen when they accept a gift from you: One, they’ll like it and feel good about it. Two, they will sit down, and that’s when you can start building a rapport by matching and mirroring.
Create a Luxury Experience
If you’re selling a luxury product, or even if you’re not, and you do give the client something to drink, give them something fancy – a San Pellegrino, or a Perrier, for example. You’re trying to create a luxury experience. Give them what they want and elevate your brand at the same time.
Build a Rapport
Once they’re sitting down and you’re matching and mirroring them, your clients will start to like you. They won’t even know why they like you because they perceive all these things subconsciously, but they will. You will have built a rapport and that will help you become their friend.
Learn from my book
The Million Dollar Minute: The secrets of how we sold 367 condos in 90 minutes, and how you can too!
What happens once the meeting is over? Learn why the first meeting is not the time to close!
