The Trust Factor
Luis walks into an electronics store in search of a digital camera. He’s new to photography, and he feels overwhelmed by the choices. Luis wonders, “Which brands are best? Should I choose a CSC or a DSLR? What’s a camera sensor, and does size matter?”
A salesperson approaches Luis and asks if she can answer any questions. “No thanks,” Luis responds automatically. He’s heard horror stories of shifty salespeople who make false promises or conceal the truth just to make a sale.
This is a classic example of the critical role trust plays in sales. Potential buyers must trust you to solicit your help, follow your advice, offer information about their situation, buy from you, or recommend you to their friends. In this lesson, you will learn more about what trust means in sales and why it matters. You’ll also learn how to build trust with potential buyers.
“Every sale has five basic obstacles: No need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”
Zig Ziglar
In this video, learn about the importance of trust in sales and how to build trust with prospective customers.
Pause and Reflect: How Do You Define Trust?
What does trust mean to you? Pause for a moment and reflect on your personal experiences. Think about friends, colleagues, mentors, or professionals you trust. What behaviours make these people trustworthy? In comparison, think about a person you don’t trust. Why? What behaviours make you feel sceptical?
Understanding Trust in Sales
In a sales context, trust describes a potential buyer’s belief that you’re acting in their best interest and telling the truth. That allows them to feel confident about a salesperson’s advice—and ultimately, their solution.
Effective salespeople strive to build connections, and trust lays the foundation for any strong relationship. But what qualities mark someone as trustworthy?
Expand the rows below to identify five characteristics that contribute to trust in sales, and tips to foster each.
Honesty
The first quality is honesty, which isn’t just about telling the truth. Being open, upfront, and transparent with prospective customers is also part of being honest. You can demonstrate honesty by:
- Speaking candidly about the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions.
- Giving your honest opinion or advice.
- Telling potential buyers if a product doesn’t have a feature they want or isn’t a good fit for their needs.
- Never concealing or distorting information.
- Admitting when you don’t know the answer to a question.
Reliability
The second is reliability—your dependability and consistency over time. You can become a salesperson that prospective buyers can rely on by practicing these behaviours:
Honour your promises. For example, when you quote a price, stick to it. Don’t reveal hidden fees midway through the sales process.
Be available and respond promptly. Offer to meet prospective customers through their preferred communication channel, whether that’s over the phone, email, instant message, video chat, or in person. Show up when you say you will, and respond to questions promptly.
Follow up. Check-in with prospective customers as appropriate. Provide additional information or resources, send a thank-you note, ask how else you can help, or survey them about their experience post-purchase.
Competence
A competent person shows skill, knowledge, expertise, or capability.
Having a thorough knowledge about your solution, industry, and competition will demonstrate competence to potential buyers. Here’s a breakdown of these key knowledge areas:
1. Know your product or service. Be prepared to provide detailed information about your company’s offerings, including:
Names and options
Benefits, features, and specifications
Instructions for use
Pricing
Delivery information
Service, warranty, and repair information
Manufacturing information
Customer reviews and testimonials
2. Know your industry and market. Stay up to date with industry news and trends. Also, familiarise yourself with the market and customer base you serve. Understand your typical customer’s needs, motivations, values, and pain points.
3. Know your competition. Finally, pay attention to your industry rivals. How do their offerings compare? And more importantly, what sets your offerings apart from theirs?
Integrity
Integrity is also critical to fostering trust in sales. Acting out of goodwill, doing the right thing, and upholding strong moral or ethical standards all indicate integrity. Follow these best practices for maintaining integrity in sales:
Educate prospective customers about a product’s capabilities—and limitations. Don’t move forward if a buyer is making a purchasing decision based on misunderstanding or a lack of information. And don’t purposely withhold information that you think might prevent a prospective customer from buying.
Be realistic when communicating the results a prospective customer can expect from a product or service. Avoid false or exaggerated claims.
Don’t pressure potential buyers or use overly aggressive or pushy selling techniques.
Treat potential buyers fairly and equally; don’t discriminate based on race, age, sex, gender identity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc.
Tip: Treat every potential buyer as if they were your family member or close friend. What selling techniques would you use with a loved one? Uphold the same ethical principles when selling to strangers.
Rapport
Finally, trust requires rapport—a good relationship or feeling of closeness, familiarity, or shared understanding between people. Some ideas to help you build rapport with prospective customers include:
Ask questions to understand their situation and needs. What problem are they trying to solve? What are they looking for in a solution? How will they use the solution? What are their goals, challenges, and values?
Make a personal connection. View your potential buyers as people—not just customers. Get to know a potential buyer’s family, hobbies, work, interests, and other details. Identify and share what you have in common.
Be yourself. Speak and act as you would with friends and loved ones (so long as your words and conduct remain professional). Let your personality shine, and avoid coming across as overly stiff, formal, or rehearsed.
Tip: Building rapport takes time. You may need several touchpoints or interactions with prospective customers before they trust you and feel ready to buy.
- Trust means different things to different people. You might add to this list or define these characteristics differently depending on your context.
With trust, prospective customers see you as a valuable resource or guide along their journey. Without trust, potential buyers may question you, and by extension, your product.
Check Your Understanding
Check your understanding of how to build trust in sales by completing the scenario below. Imagine that you’re a sales associate at a bike shop, and Robert has approached you for help.
Summary
Trust is critical to building long-term customer relationships and earning the confidence of potential buyers. To develop trust, salespeople need to prove that they’re acting in prospective customers’ best interests. You can do that by being honest and reliable, demonstrating competence and integrity, and making a personal connection with every buyer you meet. Don’t give potential buyers a reason to distrust you. Follow these tips to become an expert adviser and trusted confidante in the eyes of prospective customers.
- Go above and beyond to help potential buyers. Extraordinary customer service can set your company apart and demonstrate your genuine desire to add value to their buyer’s journey.
You now have a better understanding of how to build trust with potential buyers. Click on ✔ Mark Complete to move onto the next lesson and explore transparency, another important aspect of relationship-building.