TRUST

According to Charles Green's "Trust-based Selling," in order to build loyal customers for life, you must value the relationship over the transaction. And, we agree. Especially if you are selling complex products or intangible services.

As Green points out, and our own experience shows, most sales and marketing people either ignore the trust factor altogether, or simply believe the act of building trust is telling their prospective customer all about their expertise, experience, reputation, etc. While this does build credibility, it does not build trust. And with all things seeming equal, the buyer will always choose trust.

So, what's the acid test for "selling from trust?"

It's simple. Would you ever be willing to recommend a key competitor to a significant client? Be honest. This is not the time to live in denial. If you answer no, you are not selling from trust.

In "Trust-Based Selling," Green identifies four values that a trust-based seller must hold and act from consistently:

1. True customer focus, which means treating customers as ends, not as means, and cultivating a habit of noticing and paying attention.

2. A collaborative style and willingness to involve the buyer in the sales process, going way beyond customer satisfaction surveys or client dinners.

3. A medium-to-long term perspective, which involves focusing on multiple transactions and interactions over time, as opposed to the particular sale at hand.

4. A habit of transparency, the best guarantor that motive will be understood. Secrets break down trust, while being transparent means being willing to let the client into the seller's business by sharing information that sellers might normally consider proprietary.

There are a lot of great nuggets in "Trust-Based Selling," but the biggest take-away is self awareness. Ask yourself, "do I really have my customer's best interests at heart?" Did you pass the acid test?