Leverage Trust To Increase Sales
Building trust is the key to successful relationships. Trust is vital to sales, and once built, there are a variety of ways to leverage trust to increase sales. Here are some ways trust is effective.
Direct and indirect access to Power
If someone you trust comes to you with an opportunity, how willing are you to listen? Also, what about when that same person comes to you asking for an introduction to other decision-makers- how willing are you to make the introduction? Trust is what gets you in the room with the decision-makers. Providing you have their best interest at heart is the key to simply being in the room to make the pitch. Think of how often people come to you with ideas and advice – who are the ones you listen to?
Advice and Consent
When providing someone with advice, trust is what gets the advice taken. The key here is making sure you are not making outlandish claims. Give easy to see outcomes that are positive and don’t be afraid to let others know what could happen if the situation doesn’t work out. Being honest and realistic is critical. What happens is the other person keeps coming back to you for advice and seeks your help with making decisions. This is where sales happen.
The Hard Conversation
No one likes hearing bad news. It is bad news to find out a process you are using isn’t working, but would you have that conversation with just anyone? The people who can have a serious sit down are few and far between. When you’ve developed trust and helped a prospect navigate through issues, you have the capital needed to give a call and let them know they are doing something wrong and you’ll help.. It’s not eh easiest call to make, but when trust is earned, you are not having a conversation where you are selling a prospect on a new idea- you are helping a friend.