How Important is Trust in Making a Sale? by Bill Brooks Here in the Triad (as it is in other parts of the world), it is clear that there is no greater issue than the one related to the future of our water supply. It is the one single issue that will get every local politician to agree with one another. And that is sure rare around here! It affects all of our futures and is an issue that is both serious and far reaching. What is the one issue that affects every salesperson regardless of what they sell? Regardless of whether it is a product or service, high or low priced, business to business or business to consumer? Here it is: People buy from people and organizations they know they can trust. We conducted some interesting research several years ago. Here is the question we asked over 6,000 buyers: "To what extent did you most trust the salesperson you bought anything from in the past 24 months?" The answer will surprise you. An astounding 64% said they didn't trust the salesperson at all! The logical question then became obvious. Why did you buy if you didn't trust the salesperson? The answer was simple. They had no choice, there was a specific feature that sold them, a benefit they needed or a product they had to have. The consequences were severe, however. Over 93% said they would never buy from that same organization or salesperson again! The bottom line? If you are involved in a relationship based sale rather than one that is purely transactional and if you rely on repeat, referral and long term, positive strategic positioning to sell your product or service, trust is essential. In fact, if that is the case, trust is far more important than merely being liked. Let me suggest this simple principle to you: with mutual trust, a salesperson can sell value while being liked guarantees you can only sell on price. The consequence of this should be obvious. Top salespeople sell the value of their product and marginal ones sell price, concessions, discounts and slim margins. Let's take a look at ten very specific ways for you to develop and sustain a sense of trust with your prospects or customers. Here they are: Promise a lot and deliver more. Don't believe for one moment the old saying that you should "under promise and over deliver." Set high expectations with your customers and then exceed even those lofty expectations. Be punctual for every appointment, each commitment and deliver on every promise you make. Show up to every meeting with accurate, timely, relevant answers and knowledge. Anticipate their questions and come prepared to answer them in as much depth as necessary. Meet every commitment, 100% of the time. Not 99.9% - 100% of the time! If you or your company or team make an error, admit it. There is nothing worse than dodging responsibility, blaming others or failing to admit a mistake. Take full responsibility. Never allow your customer to be blindsided. Alert them about issues that will affect them. Do this even if it is painful. Be sure to give them as much notice about anything that affects them as early you possibly can. Never deal directly with a customer's superior unless you alert the customer that you are doing so, what the purpose or outcome of the meeting was and how it will affect the person with whom you have initially dealt. Prepare extensively for every customer interaction. Leave nothing to chance. Seize every opportunity to show how much depth and understanding you have of their situation and circumstance. Take time to educate customer service, delivery, technical support personnel or anyone else who ever interfaces with your customer. Educate them about promises or understandings that you and your customer have, specific issues that are sensitive to your customer and exactly how to deal with the account. Stay in touch. Never let your customer feel that you are taking them for granted. Make them feel that you are so interested in them that they are your only customer. Building trust is essential in making a sale. Sustaining trust with customers is critical to building a long-term sales career. Far too often, salespeople believe they are "selling" themselves. Far from it. Salespeople are selling their sincere interest in the customer or prospect. They are communicating that the organization they represent is one that can be trusted to make good on any promise they vow to make. How about when you buy something? Isn't that what you want, too? In short, when you sell ask yourself this question - "Am I the person representing the product and organization that I would trust implicitly?" Be tough on yourself and your answer. It could be the secret to your success. FREE FAX OFFER:Receive Bill's 20 minute audio tape Building and Sustaining Trust With Your Prospect. Fax request on your business letterhead to 336-282-5707. Bill Brooks can be reached at 800-633-7762. ©1999 Bill Brooks, The Brooks Group, Greensboro, NC For almost two decades Bill Brooks has been one of America's most in-demand sales speakers. The reason behind Bill's tremendous popularity is that he has successfully accomplished what other sales speakers merely talk about. He enjoys real-world, legitimate sales success, executive experience, in-depth topic expertise, academic preparation, as well as the highest speaking and consulting accreditations. Bill has been a sales executive and marketing manager, an international sales award winner, CEO of a 300 million dollar corporation and successful college football coach with a 70% winning record. He has managed a national sales force of 4000. Bill is author of over 100 video and 200 audio programs, and 9 books. He has hosted over 300 satellite television shows. For more information about Bill Brooks' speaking, training and consulting services; or learning tools, call 800-633-7762 or e-mail sales@brooksgroup.com or visit his website at www.brooksgroup.com.