The key to sealing a deal is to build trust with your prospect. However, gaining someone’s trust is easier said than done, especially when your motives are inherently self-serving. But fear not, dear salespeople, because there is a way to overcome this hurdle! By transforming yourself into more of an advisor during the buying journey, you can establish and maintain trust with your prospect. And how do you do that, you may ask? Well, it’s all about the psychology behind it. In fact, understanding and utilizing the power of psychology can play a significant role in establishing a trustworthy relationship with your potential customer.
1. Build authentic trustworthiness
Fear is a natural human emotion, and it can be a significant barrier to success. This fear of the unknown can manifest itself in many different ways, including racism and a reluctance to make a purchase. When it comes to business, customers are often hesitant to complete a sale because they fear the unknown outcomes that may follow. As a sales professional, it is crucial to alleviate this fear and establish trust with potential customers.
One of the best ways to establish trust is to establish credibility for your brand. Many influencers do this by becoming industry authorities and sharing helpful information and tips. When they pitch a product or service, their followers are more likely to trust them and make a purchase.
As a sales professional, you can establish your credibility by providing hard data that proves your business delivers desired results. Case studies are an effective way to establish your niche authority and success. By sharing real-life examples of how your product or service has helped others, you can build trust with potential customers.
2. Display sincere compassion
Facts are important in sales, but they are also cold and lacking in connection. To establish a real connection with potential customers, salespeople need to use their empathetic abilities. According to the American Psychological Association, empathy is hard work because it requires asking questions, actively listening, and trying to understand the prospect’s perspective.
Empathy helps build a genuine connection between the salesperson and the prospect. It allows the salesperson to understand the prospect’s needs and tailor solutions accordingly. This approach helps to build trust faster than any other tactic.
3. Foster mutually beneficial outcomes
In psychology, there are four basic outcomes to any situation: win-lose, lose-win, lose-lose and win-win. The last outcome is what will lead to a strong, lasting relationship where both sides feel good about the outcome. Achieving a win-win situation can be challenging, especially in the sales process, but it can be done with some outside-the-box thinking.
ThrottleNet offers a great example of a win-win sales call. The company offers its services for free for the first 30 days after an initial IT call, without charging any on-boarding fees, and without requiring a contract. They also offer a $1,000 refund to unsatisfied customers who cancel within 30 days. At first glance, this seems like a win for the customer and a loss for the company, right?
However, this is a situation that can easily turn into a win-win. By providing a free trial, ThrottleNet on-boards prospects at a much higher rate, giving them a firsthand experience with the service they might not have tried otherwise. This makes them far more likely to convert into paying customers, resulting in more revenue for the brand.
The “Win-Win” sales call is an excellent example of how a company can use unconventional methods to achieve a win-win situation. By taking a risk and offering a free trial with no strings attached, ThrottleNet has built trust with its customers and established itself as a reliable, customer-focused company. It’s an approach that can benefit any business looking to establish long-term relationships with its customers. After all, if you can make both sides feel good about the outcome, you’re on your way to building a lasting relationship.
4. Maintain steadfastness
When it comes to building trust, consistency is critical. One of the reasons why prospects may feel fear during the sales process is that they don’t know what to expect. However, when you consistently behave in a certain way, prospects can predict your behavior, which can help alleviate their fears.
Consistency can also help release oxytocin, a hormone that increases trust and reduces fear. When prospects interact with you, and you behave consistently, they feel more comfortable and confident in your ability to deliver on your promises. This can help strengthen the relationship between you and your prospect.
Furthermore, the release of oxytocin can also increase empathy, which can further enhance the trust between you and your prospect. By consistently showing that you understand their needs and concerns, you can build a strong connection with them and establish a foundation of trust.
5. Fulfill commitments reliably
Your job doesn’t end with closing that initial sale. Once you’ve convinced a prospect to buy your product or service, it’s up to you to fulfill the promises you made during the sales process. Whether you’re selling a physical product or a service, it’s important to follow through on what you said you would do. In psychology, our ability to keep promises is a measure of how much we value the person we made that promise to. Even breaking a small promise can erode trust, and a series of broken promises will cause you to lose a prospect’s trust entirely.
It’s never okay to over-promise and under-deliver. Sure, it may help you close a sale in the short term, but it won’t do anything to help you retain customers. Negative word-of-mouth will spread, and soon enough, nobody will trust you or your business. Instead, you should only make promises that you know you can keep. By setting realistic expectations and then delivering on them, you’ll not only satisfy your customers, but you’ll also lay the foundation for a long-lasting relationship.
Trust is key to success in sales. By establishing yourself as a reliable and trustworthy resource, you can build strong relationships with prospects and earn their business. It’s important to foster this trust throughout the sales process and even after the sale is closed. With a focus on building trust, you can create long-lasting relationships with your customers and achieve success in the sales world.
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