I had a chance to hear Guy Kawasaki speak at the IMS conference and it was a great session and an exciting topic. Much of what he shared was from his latest book, Enchantment and it was relevant to sales because sales people need to connect and relate to their prospects and clients. I would add to that by saying that the need for this is greater now than ever before.
Why?
Because the economic climate has caused people to shut down and not talk about things that they consider private, incriminating or embarrassing even if we are looking at these “things” from a business perspective. They will not do that until adequate trust is established.
Additionally and unfortunately there is a reputation that many sales people have acquired over the years - that of being dishonest. This also needs to be overcome.
So how do we establish this kind of trust? The Type of trust than can overcome the skepticism and resistance of the current market. Guy recommended that we start it; we initiate an act of trust. I agree with this but I also believe that on many occasions sales people are simply too trusting of prospects. How do we balance the two?
When a sales rep is too trusting they end up believing absolutely everything the prospect says and they take everything at face value. A lack of cynicism and skepticism on the part of the sales person might prevent them from asking deeper questions and probing. Ironically these questions – although coming from what we could call a lack of trust – actually lead the sales person to a position of trust. Clients and prospects appreciate the real questions, the push back, the consultative approach conveyed by these questions. In this case the lack of trust (sometimes the motivator for the questions) is transparent or not seen by the prospect.
Demonstrating trust is different. How though can we purposely establish trust with our clients and how can we do that quickly?
One of the things we should think about is what does it take for us to trust someone? What does it take for us to trust them quickly?
1) When they genuinely care
2) When they are introduced to us by someone we already trust
3) When we get a good feeling about our conversation - they listen, ask questions and offer appropriate responses.
So early on in your exchanges with prospects try to do this. Look for opportunities where you can demonstrate that level of trust. Guy told a story about meeting Richard Branson, how did Richard take the lead in demonstrating trust? He knelt down and jokingly "begged" Mr. Kawasaki to start flying on Virgin! It worked, he put himself out there, he took the risk first.
The facts are that humor, disclosing personal information and even body language are demonstrated differently to those we trust than with those we don't. Our goal should be to break down those barriers and establish trust early. When we don't sound like everyone else we establish trust almost immediately. When we are the only one to ask questions that demonstrate real expertise we establish trust.
So the conclusion is this - as a sales person be skeptical and don't be too eager to trust and believe everything your prospect tells you. At the same time demonstrate trust to the prospect by being open, honest and at times vulnerable.
