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:
1. Do what you say & say what you do.
2. Be honest – especially when it’s hard. Make sure you use language about a situation NOT the person.
3. 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 trust worthy – 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.