Customers don’t buy from people they like, they buy from those they trust

It is often said that customers buy from people they like. While we don’t usually buy from people we don’t like, there is one more dimension to this old saying.

Customers buy from people they trust

To further illustrate this point, let’s look at how typical leads react when new salespeople make the first contact with them (aka cold calling):

1. They find an excuse to hang up the phone ASAP.

2. They are very busy during appointments with the sales staff.

3. They keep their mouths shut as much as possible when salespeople ask questions.

4. They will not refer sales personnel to a higher authority, even when that need is clear.

5. They often use delay tactics like “If necessary, we’ll call you” to appease sales people, and so on.

These are just a few examples of customer behaviors when they distrust the seller. As such, in order for customers to be interested and enthusiastic about what you have to offer, you must first earn their trust.

A question of lust

The reasons why customers don’t trust sellers are very simple – they feel like the only thing sellers care about is getting their money. Sadly, this “greed for customer money” is true enough with many salespeople, AND customers can smell them from miles away.

When customers make purchases, what they really want for the money they spend is proven value. That is, the products or services they buy can provide better productivity, reduce waste, or simply improve their quality of life.

So the first step to building trust is this: you need to be perceived as being on the customer’s side and proactively help solve customer problems.

Here is a simple example. When most of your sales reach out to their prospects, they’ll say something like, “Hi, my name is xyz and I’m from abc company. How are you doing today? I’d like to show you a demo of our latest productivity-enhancing device. Since I will be near you on Tuesday afternoon, can I come see you around 2:00 PM or 4:00 PM? “

The problem with this form of approach lies in how these leads respond. They will simply say “I am not interested” or they will say yes and then ask their secretaries to tell them “The boss has an urgent meeting, please leave your materials at the front desk and we will call you when we need you.”

The reason for such responses from customers is that they don’t trust what you said. They’ve probably seen too many “productivity-enhancing gadgets,” and heard too many “I happen to be in your neighborhood” stories, and will no doubt be too busy to meet another hawker of gadgets. Also, they don’t trust you enough to tell you their “productivity” challenges, if that’s what your product will solve.

To overcome these initial contact trust issues, both sales people and their managers will need to work together to build trust and allay customer fears that they will be scammed or wasting their time.

From the sales person’s perspective, you will need to provide the customer with what Miller Heiman calls a valid business reason in your opening call, for example, “Hello, my name is xyz. I understand that many companies in your industry are facing serious challenges due to steep increases in raw material costs. I would like to explore with you if we can help you improve your productivity and therefore reduce your costs. “

From a sales manager’s perspective, trust will need to be built beyond the initial cold call. Customers are likely to increase their confidence if they have seen testimonials and case studies of past successes, BEFORE the initial phone calls from salespeople.

Build credibility, NOT profits

Traditionally, many companies simply focus on “features, benefits, and benefits,” none of which will work IF the customer doesn’t trust you enough. Therefore, sales staff should build credibility throughout the sales process, namely:

* Listens

* Do your homework and ask smart questions

* Provide assurance to your customers

Many salespeople tend to put too much emphasis on their business and the products they offer, forgetting to listen to your needs, wants, and concerns.

To ensure customers spend more time talking, salespeople should ask smart questions. Typically, customers expect sales staff to have done basic research on customer websites. Sales staff can improve this by reviewing the annual reports of clients (if they are publicly traded companies) or the source for news reports on these clients. If a potential customer is a competitor to a current customer, you can get more information from the latter. Web 2.0 social networking sites are also a great source of information.

While some sales managers may argue that spending too much time on the internet will cut down on sales time and is therefore detrimental to sales. However, going to a client and not knowing the right questions to ask will make the client feel unprofessional and incompetent, which is worse. Sales managers will need to strike the right balance by allocating enough time for research and selling.

Ultimately, customers will often have nagging concerns about buying from you. Rather than avoiding those concerns for fear that addressing them will hurt your sale, the opposite is likely to be the case. If customers have unanswered questions or concerns about your products and services, they will:

* Less likely to buy

* Buy less

* Drive tough bargaining on your price

So as you approach the final stages of your sale, look for symptoms that show the customer is nervous or uncomfortable. Then try to address those concerns and provide appropriate assurances.

The politics of truth

Perhaps the biggest destroyer of trust is “overpromising and underperforming.” The causes of this destruction are twofold:

* Sales people make promises to customers about things they can’t (or aren’t sure they can) keep

* Companies that offer their customers product quality levels lower than expected.

For the former, sales managers should make sure that sales people don’t overpromise their customers just to get the sale or hit their sales goal. Doing so will seriously damage the trust between buyer and seller, and will make future sales efforts very difficult to succeed.

For the latter, nothing demotivates sales people more than having to answer customer questions for which they have no answers. No sales effort will be successful if the company does not invest enough in quality to ensure that customers get the value they pay for. When companies offer poor quality, not only will there be a decrease in sales, there will also be an immediate increase in sales staff turnover. It is not a question of “if”, it is only a question of time. After all, who wants to sell for a company they can’t even trust?