The importance of why

- If I ask you to fill in the blank, people buy from people they, what would you say? Now, the vast majority of people know the answer is trust. Yes, people buy from people they trust, they trust people they like, and they like people they connect with. With this in mind, what does it take to drive trust? A genuine connection, here's the problem, most of us have been trained to build rapport with our customers, unfortunately, that usually amounts to the old, "I see you have a picture of a sailboat on your wall, you sail?" I drink water, there, we have rapport, right? Wrong, do you know how many other folks have met with this customer and used the exact same line or one very similar? Likely hundreds, the subconscious mind of your customer may act friendly and pretend to go along with you, but the reality is, they're just waiting for you to begin your product dump like everyone else. Research shows that we're all subconsciously, biologically wired to view the world through the lens of risk. Now, when it comes to trust, our subconscious is viewing every person we interact with and categorizing them as potential friend or potential foe. Are you here to hurt me or are you here to help me? My self-preservation will initially place everyone in the foe category until I can determine that you aren't here to hurt me. I know this sounds a bit like caveman theory, but the reality is the self-preservation mechanisms in our brains are still the same as they were back then. Now, for your customer to be open to answering your questions with honesty, they have to feel safe to do so. They can't feel like by answering your questions that they're going to open themselves up to more risk. Now, to combat this effect and create a genuine connection that drives personal trust, you have to share something authentic and meaningful, and even a bit vulnerable with your customer. You have to let them understand why you do what you do, long before they'll care about what you're there to discuss with them. So why do you do what you do? And why might that be relevant to me, the customer? And by why, I mean, what do you believe? Why are you here? Why should I trust you? When you open up a sales meeting with your why, it sets the table for the rest of the meeting based on mutual trust. Let me share with you what I call the My Why Story that I use in our prospect meetings. Mr. Customer, let me tell you why I do what I do. I grew up on a hundred acre farm that my Papa, my grandfather bought with his life savings. He taught me most of what I needed to know in life, right there on that farm. I learned how to drive when I was just five standing between his knees on our old John Deere tractor. He taught me that hard work and perseverance will always pay off. He taught me what I call the Platinum Rule, you treat other people better than they expected to be treated, and he showed that in little ways like returning our neighbor's borrowed truck that was always full of gas, or giving the coat office back to a stranger at a farm auction. He taught me that family matters more than anything else, and long after your friends and colleagues are gone, your family will remain, so you ought to treat 'em accordingly along the journey. Finally, he taught me that problem solvers rule the world, and whether he was trying to get me to fix a lawnmower engine with a spare box of parts in the barn, or fixing an old shovel handle, he believed with enough creativity, ingenuity, and maybe a little bit of duct tape, you could solve just about anything. Great news is, I get to help customers like you solve critical problems to their business every day. And that's really why I do what I do, how about you? Now, when you open up your meetings with a story like this, you show honesty, authenticity, with just enough vulnerability to really connect with someone. We hear from clients time and time again that this single story change the impact of their customer conversations. If you want to be able to ask the tough questions, you must be first viewed as someone that they trust. Starting with your why will most definitely do just that.