Last year I had a conversation with Gretchen Gordon of Braveheart Sales Performance on the difference in core competencies for success between sales LEADER vs. salespeople.
She breaks out 37 sales leadership core competencies into 4 headings:
- The Performance Master (with 7 components)
- The Coach (with 12 items)
- The Motivator (including 9 subjects)
- The Recruiter (which has 9 pieces)
Unlike Gretchen, I’m not an expert at giving assessments and evaluating the results before you promote people.
I will say that the competency crossover to salespeople is abysmal in my opinion, with only 12 core competencies being on both lists.
This year I’ve been having conversations both with newly anointed… I mean promoted… salespeople as well as salespeople who would like to move into leadership positions.
Which means this month’s theme for The Chip Off the Block is Things that are true for Salespeople AND Leaders.
Giving you the opportunity as a salesperson to hone skills that will make you more successful IN sales and give you a leg up if you want to be promoted into leadership.
Plus, if you’ve been promoted from a salesperson role in sales leadership – you’ve probably already sharpened this “thing” and can leverage it in your VERY DIFFERENT role.
Today let’s talk about TRUST.
With prospects… customers… or people on your team, trust is built in SMALL increments.
Which is probably why Jimmy Dean said, “Do what you say you’re going to do. And try to do it a little better than you said you would.”
And the fact that it’s difficult is why when I googled “building trust,” the search returned about 1,340,000,000 results (0.58 seconds).
I’ll share my personal top 3 trust building mantras:
- Do what you say & say what you do.
- Be honest – especially when it’s hard. Make sure you use language about a situation. NOT the person.
- Disappointing someone early is better than making them upset because of your failure later.
As salespeople: work on the million little things you can do to building trust in your prospects. The biggest key may be in the communication of what people can expect from you, with follow-through demonstrating what you said:
- I’ll call you back next Tuesday… and you do
- I’ll send you an email… and you do
- Share lead times, especially when it doesn’t meet their needs.
As sales leaders: because you have a position above someone else in the corporate hierarchy doesn’t *poof* make you trustworthy (that is, worthy of trust) – you have to EARN trust.
I would suggest thinking of new team members exactly the same way you did a new prospect. Of course, the specifics aren’t the same, but these will sound very familiar:
- When you schedule a meeting – be on time
- Be consistent in your response to stress
- Listen first
- Ask for feedback
- Be helpful
- Trust your sales people individually
- Have their back
Today, make your own million little things list! Then of course you’ll need to DO all those little things with consistency to earn someone’s trust.
You can make BIG strides when you build trust in SMALL increments.
Lynn
ps. Does your team have some negative P.R. to overcome when it comes to trust? Maybe there was a former rep or manager who tinged your group with a bad reputation? In these situations, the trust building process can be challenging, both as a leader and with your customers. Professional coaching can accelerate your repair work. Click here and let’s formulate a plan for 2019.
Comments (0)