Whether or not you work closely in the field of B2B sales, you have probably come across many people who are highly distrustful of sales professionals. Have you ever wondered why this is? Well, in short, there are far too many people who have had a bad experience with a sales person. This is not to say that the sales person has been anything but completely professional to the end. However, what it might say is that the sales person basically spent their time spinning official B2B sales talk and doing nothing to get to know the person that they were selling to.
For some people who are selling goods, services, ideas or anything else, it can become extremely difficult to do anything other than go into robotic mode when trying to sell something. This is something that your prospects will very easily and quickly pick up on, which is not good news because a robotic technique does not really tie in with what you should be looking to create, which is a trusting and solid relationship.
No matter how good your product or service, nobody is going to really believe or care about what you are saying if your eyes are glazed over and you are talking as though you are reading from an invisible script. What most consumers want is someone that will talk to them one on one, will explain the benefits of their product or service, but will also go the extra mile and explain things such as the pros and cons. Even though you may feel that explaining the cons of your product or service may be counterproductive, it will actually help to build trust links between you and your prospect.
Let’s face it; customers already know that your product or service is unlikely to be perfect in every single way. By pointing out the cons before he or she looks them up, you get to discuss those cons, turn them into positives, and gain the trust of your prospect.
Reasons why you need to work on building trust
There are many reasons why building trust with your clients, customers and prospects is so important, not just for those working in B2B sales but also for those working in business in general. This includes:
Overall rapport: A high degree of trust is a vital part of building a good overall rapport with your customers, clients, and prospects, which is the very basis for your working relationship. With the right rapport, you could end up with clients for life rather than just one off customers who have no interest in doing business with you again in the future.
Client solutions: If your customer or client trusts what you have to say and believes in you, he or she is more likely to approach you for your advice on solutions in the event of an issue. This could work wonders for further building your rapport and for your business.
Increased business: Any client, customer, or other company is going to be more interested in doing business with a person or company that they trust rather than one that they know little about or do not have a particularly trusting relationship with. By building on your trust levels with your clients, you may therefore increase business.
Word of mouth: The best way to gain popularity as a business, no matter what you sell, is through word of mouth. If your clients trust you, get on with you, and find you easy to talk to, they are far more likely to recommend you to others. Clients that really trust you become a proxy B2B sales team, so building trust is also a great way of building business.
By making sure that your business relationships are based heavily on trust, you can look forward to far greater success as well as far greater respect from your clients and customers.
The B2B selling process has changed in recent times which means salespeople need to improve their tactics and develop better strategies. Download our FREE whitepaper to see how B2B selling has changed