Recently, I was dropping off donuts at a local business in San Antonio, and the receptionist/office manager told me that nobody there liked donuts. This struck me as a strange response, as it was hard to imagine that there wasn’t at least someone in the office who might enjoy a treat from Dunkin’ Donuts. After thinking about her response for a few seconds, it dawned on me that the situation was probably about trying to resist my rapport-building attempt.
The Distrust of Salespeople
The truth is that many people strongly dislike or distrust salespeople in general and often put up their guard to resist rapport-building attempts, so they won’t feel obligated to reciprocate. Just the other day, another business emailed me saying they were going to return the gift I had dropped off. I realized that this was probably the exact same issue. In fact, it might not just be resisting rapport building; some might even see dropping off gifts as an attempt to buy their business or as a bribe.
Changing Perceptions
You might be wondering what happened with the office manager who refused the donuts. After realizing that she might feel I was trying to bribe her and resist my attempt to build rapport, I decided to let her know that I had spoken with the partners, and they had told me their specific needs and the problems the firm was facing. They were in a pickle, caught between an IT rock and a hard place. I told her I thought I might have an alternative solution that could save the day. Suddenly, her demeanor changed, and I could tell she didn’t see me as a sleazy ‘salesman’ anymore. I had shown that I actually cared about the company more than just wanting to sell some IT stuff. After this happened, she gladly accepted the donuts and admitted they liked them.
