How to create TRUST in a digital-only sales role.

Your ability to quickly earn trust, and demonstrate credibility, has always been important in sales. Back in the BC era (Before Cloud) there was an entire phase of the sales cycle that was dedicated simply to developing “Trust & Rapport” and that phase usually required multiple F2F meetings with your buyer just to prove yourself trustworthy. Those days are over.

The virus has now shined a very bright light on exactly what I wrote about in my book (The Future of the Sales Profession) back in 2016 - and that is that ‘trust’ must now be established online where buyers are researching vendors and increasingly making data-driven decisions based on social proof - reviews, recommendations, case studies and testimonials.

Put simply, buyers no longer NEED or WANT a relationship with a salesperson…they want someone that they can trust to help them solve THEIR problem and they are now jumping to conclusions about who they can trust based on what they find online.

The Trust Equation

David Maister first introduced this equation in his seminal book - The Trusted Adviser (2000), and what a fantastically simple but brilliant approach this is. 

According to Maister (and his co-author Charles Green), your Trustworthiness is a combination of your Credibility, plus your Reliability, plus your Intimacy (with the customer) divided by your Self-Orientation. The challenge in 2020 (of course) is how to we now apply this equation, not just in a digital-first context, but in a digital-only context? Let’s explore: 

CREDIBILITY – your credibility as a salesperson is now derived from social proof points - that is, what others say about you. I have been saying this now for more than 5 years: your LinkedIn profile is the first place that you need to appear credible because it’s likely the first place that customers will notice you. If your LI profile is incomplete, unremarkable, or underwhelming in anyway then you may as well stop reading right here and find a new vocation.

Seriously, you MUST be able to convey (via your LI profile) that you ‘might’ know what you are talking about, and that you ‘might’ be a potential resource to your buyers in helping them solve problems. Anything less and your days in sales are now coming to an end. Sounds blunt, but it’s true.

RELIABILITY - reliability is all about delivering on promises, and sometimes salespeople are their own worst enemies when it comes to reliability…they over-promise, and over-commit or they simply don't show up on time, or they now show up having NOT done their research. Big mistakes in 2020!

How can you prove that you are reliable to someone that has never met you? Answer once again - social proof. That is, recommendations, endorsements, testimonials and online reviews from other buyers who are willing to vouch for your reliability. Remember, it's not what you say about yourself, it's what others say about you. Much of this can be cultivated in your own Personal Brand and your LI profile. 

INTIMACY - is about whether you can trust someone to keep something confidential. How secure or safe does your buyer feel sharing information with you? Confidentiality is enshrined in relationships like the ones that doctors and lawyers have with their patients and clients, and of course this is done to protect the individual but also to maintain trust in the profession.

If you have never met the buyer, or are only meeting them online, how do you demonstrate to them that you can be trusted to keep their information confidential? You must be able to demonstrate your willingness to be open and transparent, but also that you have a history of being careful with customer intel.

SELF-ORIENTATION - is the only denominator in the trust equation, and it asks: where does the salesperson's focus lie? Do they have my best interests at heart or are they engaging me with their own self-interests in mind?

Remember buyers don't care how much you know until they know how much you care, and they have always known that you are chasing a quota and a commission payment, and they are already on the back foot when it comes to trusting you. So how can you create a narrative that changes that perception?

We all know that actions speak louder than words, so we all have to be prepared to demonstrate (through our actions) that we have the right INTENT, and that our intent is genuine. Don't be afraid of admitting your shortcomings, and the shortcomings of your company and product. Don’t try to hide things that you think your customer won't like.

Once again, this is where independent advocacy kicks in - client testimonials, case studies and reviews are critical, and you must spend time developing these. Gone are the days where you can ignore cultivating these important proof points. This must now be part of the job, and not just an afterthought.

Lets be clear, trusted references and referrals are the holy grail in business, and conversely recommendations on your LI profile are now conspicuous by their absence….that is, if you don't have any then that is now a big red-flag to some buyers. Even when you have met a buyer (either F2F or online) and they circle back to view your profile, the lost list of endorsements and recommendations just reinforce and add to your trustworthiness.

Sadly, most salespeople have very few recommendations and that is increasingly a problem. Ask some of your trusted and happy clients to write you a review or recommendation that tells prospective buyers that you 'do the right thing'.  If you don't ask, you don't get.

Brand Equity is all about TRUST

Savvy business leaders have always recognised that their brand message is what generates and reinforces 'trust'. Brand Equity is largely about the buyer’s perception of trust, and businesses that don't have it are an awful place to work if you are in sales. 

Salespeople now have to focus on their own 'brand equity' and be able to make their own brand visible in the places where buyers might actually see it.

Summary:

COVID-19 has now expedited the need to move away from old fashioned brute force sales models where trust was only established F2F. A big part of your future success in sales will now hinge on your ability to establish trust online. Salespeople must now make a concerted effort to create online proof points because 'word of mouth' is now a digital-only format.

In this new age of transparency where every business is focusing on Lifetime Customer Value (LCV), the savvy business leaders are creating KPI's for salespeople around collating proof points that speak to trust, credibility, reliability and having the right intent (self-orientation), and rightly so.

For those that get it right, the outcome of trusted business relationships is longevity and repeat business, and the economics associated with repeat business are massively lower costs, significantly greater lifetime value (for both parties) and that all results in sustainable long-term growth.

So get the Trust Equation working for you, and then ensure that your orientation is ALL about the buyers outcomes - and the TRUST (and the sales) will take care of itself.

By Graham Hawkins

(CEO & Founder - SalesTribe)

SalesTribe

SalesTribe is the first business of its kind (globally) which has been designed specifically to help B2B sales people, many of whom now require new skills and access to new career opportunities. 

SalesTribe also helps businesses digital sales enablement to help accelerate growth, reduce 'time-to-revenue' and reduce the cost-of-acquisition.

• Sales people need new opportunities. 
• Small businesses need access to ‘on-demand’ sales best practices.
• SalesTribe makes those connections.

www.salestribe.com