Words & Phrases You Should Use to Maintain Rapport With Prospects

By Larry Prevost, Dale Carnegie Training Instructor

As sales executives and account managers, one of the things that we need to be aware of is how our audience is responding to the words that we are using. As one of my mentors told me, we can see the results of our communication through the response that we get from our audience.


For sales executives and account managers, the audience consists of our prospects and clients.

We have talked before about the effect our words can have on our prospects. Here are two more types of words or phrases to use when presenting your solution and favorably impacting the prospect.

Bridges. A bridge is a brief phrase that links a fact about our product or service to a stated benefit and it implies a causal relationship. Think of the bridge as helping your prospect cross over from the hard, real world fact to the more tenuous and desirable benefit. Words and phrases like:

1. Therefore...

2. Which means...

3. So...

4. You will find this helpful, because...

For example, "Our instructors are required to take a refresher program annually, which means..."

The bridge keeps the dialog between you and your prospect conversational, which allows you to maintain rapport with your them.

Cushions. We use cushions primarily when a prospect states an objection. It is a statement that acknowledges that you were listening to the prospect, you heard the objection and you understand its importance. However, the cushion does not agree, disagree or address the objection. When you use a cushion after hearing an objection, you allow yourself to maintain rapport with your prospect while trying to understand their position on the subject at hand.

Most of the time, your cushion will be specific to the objection or point raised. However, some of the more generic phrases that can be used as cushions are:

1. I can appreciate that.

2. I understand what you are saying.

3. I can see where you are coming from.

Examples of words that we commonly use as cushions but are more like staging areas for a verbal ground assault are:

1. ...but...

2. However...

3. Nevertheless...

These words typically are used between two opposing opinions or views, and they have the undesirable effect of putting you and your prospect on uneven ground in the conversation. The perception is that they tend to lessen or negate everything that comes before them and elevating everything that comes after them. Statements like, "I can see your point, but..." or "I feel your pain. However..." don't really build bridges or establish common ground. A good cushion will maintain rapport and keep the channels of communication open so that you can address the concern or determine if the concern is real.

In all of our communication as sales people, we are trying to convey our ideas to our prospects and clients. In order to do that, we need to maintain rapport throughout the sales process. Keep your communication conversational and directed by using bridges and cushions. Your prospects will appreciate the effort and they will show that appreciation by becoming clients.

About the Author: Larry Prevost is an instructor and an IT consultant for Dale Carnegie Training of Ohio and Indiana.