Three ways to earn trust for your company and its products and services
In the business world, it is essential to build credibility for your company and its products or services.
Credibility is synonymous to trust, which is as intangible and fragile, yet its value cannot be denied. Without trust, your company cannot maintain existing clients and customers and will hardly attain stability and success. Just like respect, it can only be earned.
For startups, one of the most important activities, is to gain trust from clients, customers and investors. Even though, your product and service or marketing strategy is really good, yet customers and clients don’t trust your company and its products, then it’s of no use.
As said earlier, trust is intangible, but for the sake of logic, let’s define it into three types:
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- Trust in you as a salesperson
- Trust on the company
- Trust on the Products and Services
In order to build credibility and earn trust from your clients, you need to get their trust in you as a direct representative of the company, trust your company and trust the products and services you’re offering.
How to get to trust as a salesperson
When you’re a salesperson for a big company, that’s great! You can use that as a credential. But for startups, you need to build from scratch and earn the trust of clients.
Briefly introduce yourself and highlight your position and accomplishments. You need to also build the track record, profile and accomplishment of your company and your products and services to the client.
Then, build rapport along the way.
The word “rapport” has roots in psychology; rapport refers to a state of mutual trust between therapist or psychologist and his or her client.
In business, rapport means developing good relations between you and your clients. It is important to establish and maintain good rapport with clients to attain and ensure success of any business venture. Rapport is also a by-word for salespersons since they are dealing and negotiating with people.
Sales is an art. In our vast experience, sales cannot be taught, but it can only be learned. Just like reading a bike or driving, you can only get better through practice and real- life experience.
As a direct representative of the company, you need to build rapport with clients and customers. So, how do you about doing that?
Two Ways to Develop Rapport and Make the Sale
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- Give compliments
- Act as a business consultant
1. Give compliments
Start by breaking the ice by finding something in common with the client. Compliment the obvious- say compliments about his office and its furniture, accessories or clothes. Though, don’t resort to flattery, because that will come as fake.
What we mean is giving genuine and sincere compliments towards the person. By giving compliments, you let him or her know that you are interested in their company.
It is advisable that you have research the company and the background of the CEO or the client. Start from what you know about the company or the client.
When you haven’t had any thing in common with the client or has no idea about the company, follow the 5W’s and 1H rule- who, what, when, where, why, how and how much.
One of the most fundamental skills in Sales is asking proper questions. Get the client to talk about his life or “anything under the sun”.
Or else, get to know the client by asking him or her questions. By asking questions, you let him or her know that you care about him or her and what he or she is doing or has accomplished.
Highlight the company’s or the founder’s good and strong points.
Also, communicate on the client’s terms or language. For example, you don’t talk like an IT person, when you’re talking to an elderly mother whose business is a bakery chain and has no idea about computers. Yes, learn to adjust to different kinds of backgrounds.
How do you know when you have successfully built rapport? In most cases, when the person smiles and more relaxed towards you. A smile is a positive sign or gesture in business.
2. Be a Business Consultant
Create a common topic for you and your client to talk about whether it’s about the company, client’s background or the like.
Once you got his attention, you need to talk about the need of the client for your products and services.
Remember, people buy things to solve their problems. Buying is a basic activity as eating, drinking or sleeping. People buy because they need that particular product or service.
Make the client care about the problem which your products or services will solve. When your client knows the problem, that’s good; when they don’t realize or have not identified it as a problem, it is your duty to educate the client of the benefits of your products or services.
Most of the time, sales is like problem- solving.
Identify the needs and problems of your client which will be solved by your products and services. Get the formula right. Solve the client’s problem. You’ll win the trust of your client. And congratulations! You made the sale.
Want to know how to build trust for your products and services? Click on the link below.
