Build Trust to “Earn the Right” Eight Keys to Open a Sales Meeting
By Michael J Griffin
4 minute read
Surveys consistently show that salespeople are not trusted. A HubSpot survey found that only 3% of respondents trust salespeople. A Salesforce survey found 79% of B2B buyers say it’s absolutely critical or very important to interact with a salesperson who is a trusted advisor. Gartner tells us that B2B customers are only spending 17% of their buying time talking with salespeople. Your ability “earn the right” to conduct an open sales – buying conversation translates into your ability to build trust with customers – quickly.
A salesperson’s ability to build trust with customers is a
very strong competitive advantage.
“Earn the Right” is a saying I first learned when I conducted sales training for Learning International. “Earn the right” is built on the foundation of inspiring customer to trust you – it is a matter of “heart” – how the customer perceives you. How might you inspire trust so you may conduct a healthy business conversation with your customer? Here are my eight key insights for Chinese New Year week! Remember the number “8” is “fatt” or good fortune. May these “8 keys” bring you and your customer good fortune this year.
Your Attitude to Serve the Customer. Instilling trust in customers starts with your attitude to serve, be a problem solver to support the customer’s success. Action point: Do research on “servant leadership” to turn your attitude to serve into behaviors your customer can see to believe in you as a trusted advisor.
Be Prepared Shows You Care. Customers expect you to be prepared and not to waste their time . Spend more valuable time preparing for your sales meeting by researching the customer’s website, his/her LinkedIn profile and network, do your competitive analysis, and get your solution information in order. Action point: Create a pre-call checklist as a “note” on your handphone to help you be prepared.
Adapt to the Customer’s Communication Style. Be attuned to your customer’s communication style right from the beginning of the sales meeting. Observe their facial expressions, body language, volume, speed and pace of their communication. This gives you clues on how to communicate and respond to your customer. Adapt your communication style to connect and deliver information to them in a way they want. Action point: Discover your communication style and how to communicate with customer styles different than your own. My favourite way to do this is DISC profiling. Do your own DISC profile and learn how to adapt your style to serve your customer.
Have an Agenda with Value. Customers perceptions may include them thinking you are going to manipulate or “trick them” into buying. Suggesting an agenda for the sales meeting with the value of customer participating shows openness and professionalism. Action point: A sales meeting is a business meeting, therefore you should have a suggested agenda prepared before you meet.
Ask Permission to Ask Questions. In lower trust situations, the customer views him/herself as a “parent,” and you, the salesperson as a “child.” When you’ve got buy-in with your agenda, then next step is ask permission to ask questions and the value it brings to the customer. This shows the customer you respect him/her and you then “earn the right” to ask questions to uncover customer circumstances and needs. Action point: Study “Transactional Analysis.” There are good videos on YouTube about “TA” and improving your customer relationships.
Listen Well. Listening well inspires trust. “If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal (customer) relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Dr. Steven Covey. Action point: Take notice of your talk time in a sales meeting. When you attentively listen, customers trust you: they talk more, you listen more to be better informed to solve their problems
Be a Relevant Storyteller. Everyone likes a relevant story including customers. Rather than probe and offer solutions, bring in good crisp stories about your experience and solution that helps the customer imagine how you might help. Action point: Turn your past success stories with your solutions and customer service into stories. Practice with colleagues!
Empathize from the Heart. AchieveGlobal research states that salespeople who empathize from the heart with their customer statements, problems and needs double their chances of closing the sale to those salespeople who do not empathize. Empathy that builds trust must be sincere and from your heart. Never say “I understand, but..” to empathize. It turns customers off. Action point: Demonstrating empathy takes patience, good listening, and verbal skill. Practice demonstrating empathy with family, friends, and with colleagues so it becomes natural when talking with your customers.
Apply these eight keys for building trust with your customers and see your “fortune” of sales successes increase during the “Year of the Tiger.”
Keep Safe. Serve Well. Make all Your Sales Win – Win.
Michael J Griffin
ELAvate Founder
Sales Productivity Coach
John Maxwell Team Founding Member