Hey guys, it’s Ben Lai from Sales Ethos. Today I’m going to share a story with you that illustrates the importance of trust in sales.
Just this morning I dropped my car off at the mechanic. The way that this happened was actually quite strange. When I initially made the appointment to send my car I did not even ask for the price. I was willing for them to work on my car without even knowing how much I was going to pay. But why was this?
Build Trust in Sales: Personal Connection
The reason was that I had a very high level of trust in them. But what built this trust? This is where the story comes in. Now, I met this mechanic at a networking function. That was point number one – I was able to have a personal and a human connection with the person who was potentially going to work on my car. He seemed like a genuinely nice person. And as a result of that connection I was more willing to trust him.
Build Trust in Sales: Reviews/Testimonials
The second thing that built my trust in him and his business was looking up reviews. Now reviews are very, very important for, for us as humans to understand what is good and what is not. That’s a concept called social proof. There were lots of reviews on the Google website, and that’s what increased my trust in them.
Build Trust in Sales: Personal Recommendation
Now, the third one’s a kicker. The third reason that I trusted in this particular mechanic is because someone I know that I trust, trusts them. This is the ultimate social proof! One of my friends used them and was happy with the service. Therefore, I was willing to do that as well.
Tip #1: Create Personal Connections
The takeaway points are very simple for you. There are lots of different things that you can do to build trust with people. But one of the strongest things is to have a real human and an authentic relationship with the person that you’re speaking to.
The result of having this connection is much lower price sensitivity. As it turns out, these guys are charging more than what your typical mechanics would charge. But I was completely fine with that because I know that they’re going to do right by me. I also understand that you get what you pay for. So I was more than happy to do that.
If you want to build trust with people, that’s going to reduce the price sensitivity that your prospects and your clients have with you.
Tip #2: Ask for reviews & testimonials
The second principle that I want you to take away is to understand the importance and the power of social proof. If you haven’t been asking for testimonials and reviews from your clients, now is a really great time to start collecting them because people are going to pay attention to these things to gauge whether or not you’re a good operator or not.
Tip #3: Ask for referrals
The third thing that I want you to take away is the power of referrals. Now this other person that used this mechanic just left a review on Google Reviews as well. But imagine if he had actually spoken to me, and given that verbal recommendation. The power of referrals is just so much that it can’t be ignored. If you’re not asking for referrals, then you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential business from clients that have very low price sensitivity. Just remember when I contacted these guys, I didn’t even ask for the price. I was willing to get them to work on my car just because I trusted them.
Build Trust in Sales: Conclusion
So there you have it! Those are the three things that you can do to increase trust and to lower price sensitivity. What are some of the things that you do to increase trust in your sales interactions? I’d be interested to see your input below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe and remember that integrity plus skills equals success!
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