I LOVE your contrarian style! You are so right in many ways.

YES…average sales people “DO” the rapport thing because that’s what they’ve been taught. They’ve been taught by other average performers or average leaders that “relationships sell,” too. And that, too, is an oversimplification.

Customers DO buy on their emotions, but – particluarly in B2B sales – OBJECTIVE evidence for the value of the purchase is critical for a buyer to defend his “emotional” purchase.

So, understanding a prospect’s needs through appropriate questions is key; but that is only the beginning. There is a pretty good bulleted list of items discussed at http://www.salesracehorses.com/blog/6-strategies-to-competitor-proof-your-offering/21/ that complements your approach nicely.

With respect to “building rapport”, let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water…

Building and maintaining long-term rapport (aka “relationships”) is what always give a top performing sales racehorse the opportunity to play in the game, even if his product has caused a customer some problems in the past.

Check out this system for automating a rapport building and maintenance strategy.

http://www.salesracehorses.com/blog/engaging-the-law-of-attraction-to-build-rapport/20/

Cheers, and Happy Hunting!