Does casual talk with a recruiter help me with a sales job?

I have a phone interview today. In setting up the appointment the recruiter seemed friendly and pleasant enough. It is for an outside sales job where a new service is being introduced to the region. I want to portray myself as someone who gets along well with people and build the relationships needed to build the brand. I was wondering if engaging in a little casual conversation at the beginning would help me out. I know that obviously potentially sticky topics are off limits like politics, family, etc. but safe questions like how the area is (I'm in NC, the company is based in Seattle), how her day is going be acceptable or should I just stick to business? And yes I know if I do have casual conversation it needs to be kept short.

I don't know if I'd go with much casual conversation, maybe a few sentences. You're going to be talking to someone with a very busy schedule.

Here's my advice -- Be yourself. Don't do anything you wouldn't do. When I'm looking for members of a sales team I'm looking for all kinds of different personalities and skill sets, so the sales reps will compliment each other. When I'm hiring I usually look for a specific type of person, but that personality might not be the same every time I'm interviewing.

For example.. right now I'm just looking for a friendly person to open some doors, then I'll turn it over to the technical person, who'll go with the "bulldog," person to get the order, after which the "Farmer," will keep the relationship going.

All of my reps need to have skills in all of the above areas, but right now I want the friendly person, we'll teach them the rest of the skills over time.

BTW, most of the times the reps work by themselves, but for the products and territories I need filled this is the dominant personality I'm looking for. In a different territory, I'd be looking for someone else.

I've been in marketing a long time,and I live by the saying "people don't care about how much you know, till they know how much you care. If your going to be good, live by this. But also know how to read what people are trying to get out of a conversation.If you want shoot me an email and let me know how it goes.Tim

I am a bit confused in reading your question as to who you are wanting to have the casual conversation with the recruiter or the one who you are going to do the interview with? Either way, I think it is okay to do. You are on the right track as far as the subjects to avoid and the ones to touch upon. I wouldnt really ask about her day though. Other things you can do are to go ahead and read up on the company or product you will be working with and be able to ask questions semi business related or casual that are about the company or product. When in doubt you can always talk about weather breifly too. It seems that is a normal everyday thing people talk about as a conversation starter.