We’ve all encountered this situation; young girls with their moms standing at a grocery store entrance selling cookies or boys with their dads selling popcorn. Why is it, a majority of people passing will stop and make a purchase? A large part of the reason is the organization sponsoring the girls and boys selling these goods has spent years building trust in the community and you have faith your money is going to a good cause. Trust is one of the most important aspects in sales. And sales trust is the significant factor in your ability to succeed.
It’s an unfortunate situation; many buyers just don’t trust sales people. This lack of trust has come from past dealing with sales people who have been too pushy or just plain dishonest with the buyers. Further, some 90% of companies surveyed report they will only buy from a company they do trust. If you want sales, you have to build sales trust. Today, a majority of sales people are more educated, well trained, and are aware of the importance of building a lasting rapport with their customers. Building rapport builds trust. And once you have established the trust, it’s important to maintain it. Never promise something you can’t deliver, always stand by your word, and always admit when you’ve made a mistake. Building a lasting sales trust will help assure you continue doing business with the customer for years to come.
Once you have developed sales trust with your customers, they are more likely to recommend you to other people. If the customer believes you are someone they can trust, they’re more likely to put their own reputation on the line to refer you to other customers. Building sales trust helps you to build business through word of mouth. Customer referral and recommendation is among the best marketing you can receive and it’s entirely built on trust in you and your company. When a potential customer sees a satisfied customer who’s working with you, they’re far more likely to do business with you.
Trust, particularly sales trust, speaks to your integrity as a person. Your own self-worth is built upon being a person who is trust worthy, believable and honorable. As a sales person, you will look for these traits in your own company and the company will look for you to be dependable and truthful. Groups which have trust in each other tend to work better together and are more likely to offer assistance and direction to help each other succeed. When you feel good about yourself and your company, your self-confidence grows. Buyers pick up on that self-confidence and it makes them feel more confident in you and your company. A customer or client who has confidence in you is basically displaying that they have sales trust in you.
Sales trust takes time to develop and unfortunately can be shattered very quickly. It’s important you do the things which build and maintain trust. You need to be reliable, dependable, honest, and honorable. This is the secret to developing and keeping sales trust.
