For the past two months, I have written about the “Reasons People Buy” — and the “Reasons They Don’t Buy.”

In this issue, we would like to further examine one of the reasons people don’t buy, and that reason is lack of trust.

Building trust with current customers is done or has been done throughout your history with them. It may also have been broken at some point during that relationship.

If your trust has been broken, it will take a long time to rebuild. Take steps to avoid mistrust in the first place.

When you first start to call on an account, it isn’t that they don’t trust you, they just don’t have a history to make any sort of judgment on your abilities to serve them.

There are a number of things you can do to accelerate trust building.

Some of these strategies just require everyday common sense in dealing with people. These strategies are particularly important for those in the selling business.

One of these expectations is being on time. I call it “Lombardi time,” in reference to the great Green Bay Packer coach, Vince Lombardi. His instructions to his team were to always arrive “10 minutes early.” So if someone says to me, “Let’s meet at 1 p.m.,” I know that I’ll be there at 12:50 — Lombardi time.

Being on time tells your customer that you value their time and yours — a pretty simple concept, but I have known a number of salespeople who are perpetually late. I won’t do business with them. Would you?

Return phone calls — promptly. How often do you check your voicemail if your cell phone has been turned off during a meeting? You do give your cell phone number to your accounts, don’t you? Being easy to reach is another way to help build trust.

Do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it. If you say: “I will call you back this afternoon,” or “I will send you that information today,” make sure that you do. If you say “I will call you back within a half hour,” do it, without fail.

When you make a commitment, be sure to write it down. (Three little words that can translate into sales success: “write it down.”)

In order to prove that you will do what you say you will do, look for ways to make a commitment to your account. For example: “Let me find out about that from vendor XYZ and I will get you those specifications tomorrow.” Then make good on that promise.

Maybe you are chatting with your customer about fishing, and you have a favorite fishing spot. Go out of your way to make a commitment, such as, “Let me get you some information on this great fishing spot,” then call your fishing resort or whatever it is, have them send you their information as soon as possible, and then take it to your account and remind them in a subtle way that you followed up on your commitment.

Don’t try and bluff your way through something when you don’t know exactly what you’re talking about. Your customer probably knows a lot about your business and can smell a bluff a mile away. If they catch on, then there goes your trust.

Instead, build trust by asking questions. Show customers that you have their best interests in mind and are trying to find the best solution for them. Once you have asked the questions, here is another great way to build trust: listen with complete attention — don’t interrupt. Let them know you are interested in their needs.

If, for some reason, a commitment cannot be fulfilled, you must then call your customer and explain what happened, as well as the steps you will take to remedy the situation.

Trust. It’s a small word that will help you generate a lot of business. Commit to building trust every day.

To share your selling ideas, fax: (414) 228-1134, contact Mr. Dixon at (877) 379-3566




POSTED ON: 10/1/2006