How To Earn Trust
…Tell People To Trust You, Then Deliver
By Russ
Waddill
The ability for our customers to trust us as vendors, service providers or business people seems to be more relevant and important these days. The fact is, though, it really isn’t. Trust has been an important part of any business relationship since the beginning of business. Businesses may have breached that trust over the years. It may appear more so lately because we have so many more “news” sources shouting at us everyday. But I will contend that it isn’t any more or less important today than it ever was.
I will contend that selling has evolved over the last decade or two. Whether the evolution, or revolution, of communication has caused sales approaches to change or merely coincided with it is debatable. Whatever the cause, building trust is a salesperson’s most important objective these days.
Remind Customers They Can Trust You
One of the jobs of marketers is to support the sales force. The results of a recent survey were revealed where the following statement was placed at the bottom of an ad: “You can trust us to do the job for you.” Without changing anything else about the ad, the addition of those ten words caused the readers of the ad to rate the company higher in every category:
- Fair Price – Up 7%
- Caring – Up 11%
- Fair Treatment – Up 20%
- Quality – Up 30%
- Competency – Up 33%
By telling prospects that they can trust us, we are telling them that we understand and value trust as an important component of both the sales process, and of the ultimate delivery of our product or service.
Talk Less, Listen More
As someone who has managed a sales force of well over 100 people, I’ve always believed that building trust is a critical part of the selling equation. As marketers, we must reinforce that message every time we arm a salesperson with tools. The process of selling has moved along a continuum over the last decade where salespeople are looked to as information providers and problem solvers, much more so than simply differentiators of features and benefits.
I tell every VP of Sales I work with and every student in my entrepreneurship class, if you want to grow your revenue or build your business, you better be helping your prospects and customers solve problems in their business. Make their success your business. That means going into sales calls with a lot more questions, and a lot fewer talking points.
Don’t Write Checks Your Business Can’t Cash
Whether we like it or not, most prospects or new customers are wary of your ability to deliver. They have been burned before. They have heard stories. They have seen others promise one thing and deliver something else. Don’t reinforce their suspicions.
Technology has allowed so many business models to benefit (or suffer) from testimonials and reviews online of actual users who can objectively either support or refute your claims. And it is becoming more widespread everyday. So it is even more important to do what you say you are going to do. Hotels.com lists every hotel available in every city in the country. Beside each are reviews by actual customers to support or refute the “4 Star Rating” that is listed beside it. We don’t trust the agencies or associations that ‘rate’ these hotels anymore – but we will listen to real people who have recently stayed there.
The same goes with movies. Yahoo.com has a link to every movie in theaters across the U.S. The site links to 8-10 major critics’ commentary, but then also allows real viewers to post their comments. The ratings are rarely ever the same between the two groups. That is because the opinions of objective, real people often differ from those of the ‘professionals’.
The same goes for your business. Allow your real customers to give you honest feedback and then use it in your marketing material and on your website. If you don’t like the feedback, then fix what they are telling you, and ask them again later. They will appreciate you listening to them and valuing their opinion.
They will also learn to trust you along the way.
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