People buy from people they know, like, and trust. But what is trust? Trust is simply the prediction of an expected outcome.
You purchased this book because you trusted I could teach you some powerful revenue-generating techniques. That is your expectation. If by using this book your sales increase significantly, you will trust me more and want to develop an ongoing relationship.
A relationship begins when trust has been established.
The biggest factor preventing people from buying your product or service is a lack of trust that it will deliver on its promise and work for them. They worry about whether they are making the right decision. They are both cynical and skeptical. This is why the majority of business is conducted through referrals, because a referral is the quickest way to get to trustworthy people.
Networking, referrals, and relationship building are the top three revenue-generating moves you will learn in this book. Master these moves alone, and you will run circles around your competition.
Black belt marketers know the way to build trust is to build a relationship first. No one will buy from you unless they have an established relationship with you. The only exception is a well-established brand. The way that you build a relationship before a sale is to invest in your prospective clients, to provide them with information and education that can help, improve, and enhance their lives. Most marketers call these things “value items.” Free reports are one of the best examples of value items. People want to know you before they will invest in your product or service.
In The Power of Focus, we are told that Warren Buffet always makes his final investment decision based on three things:
Do I like the people I am investing with?
Do I trust the people I am investing with?
Do I respect the people I am investing with?
His final decision is always based on whether he feels he will have a good relationship with the company that he is investing with.
You must build lasting relationships to grow sales. Do this by implementing move 3, treating your prospects and customers as friends and family. The ability to build relationships quickly is an innate skill all black belt marketers possess. Black belt marketers have the ability to make customers feel like the most important people in the world, because they are!
Black belt marketers also know that one quality relationship in business is worth millions of dollars. They understand that people buy from people they know and trust, so they invest much time upfront building quality relationships before asking for the sale. They earn respect and trust first. Those untrained in black belt marketing call this small talk. But small talk makes people talk big about you!
People will even pay more for inferior products or services because they have established a relationship with the salesperson. Relationship building is a skill that is at the core of black belt marketing. Unless you learn how to build quality relationships, you cannot earn your black belt in marketing. Relationships are the foundation of black belt marketing.
How do you build relationships? Provide as much free information as possible. This could be a sample or the ability to test-drive your product or service at no cost. Extended guarantees, taking people out for lunch or dinner, sending birthday cards or newsletters, arranging special events, and providing Web casts and conference calls are all examples of activities that will build relationships and trust.
Make strangers into customers and customers into friends (clients).
It’s not easy to build trust. It can take weeks, months, sometimes years. That’s why you may hear salespeople say it took them two years to break into a certain account. If you started your business from scratch, you got your first customers from your own network of friends. These people already trusted you! In the same way, as your business grows, you must continue to develop the same level of trust with people you don’t know, so-called prospects. These people may be interested in buying from you but don’t yet trust you.
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to sell without first building trust. Trust building comes through developing quality relationships. Unless you are a household name, no one is going to buy your product with a single presentation or letter. Even household names had to spend years building their brands. Another way to look at a brand is as a sign of trust. Trust building is part of the sales cycle. Trust building takes time. It’s based on your ability to deliver on your word. Black belt marketers know that if your word is no good, you are no good.
Black belt marketers use a concept called “drip marketing.” This is the process of sending weekly or monthly information to prospects to earn respect and trust slowly. Newsletters are a typical example. Drip marketing is about showing incremental value to build trust in you, your product, or your service.
Invest in people, and they will invest in you. Provide free articles and information. Once you master how to gain trust by building quality relationships, you will quickly outsmart competition because trust leads to accelerated decisions.
If I am a trusted friend and I tell you about a product or service I’ve had a good experience with, you will more than likely try it. The time needed to make your decision is cut dramatically. As your friend, I helped you make an informed decision and did the research for you!
As we discussed earlier, black belt marketers know that no one sells, they just help people to make intelligent decisions. A referral through a friend not only enables an informed decision but also leads to an accelerated decision. Trust is already built into the equation.
There are usually only three reasons people don’t buy your product or service:
1. You are unable to get your message or value proposition to them.
2. They are not true prospects, people that can benefit and gain value from your product or service.
3. They don’t believe you can deliver on your promise.
Guess which is the most common reason? They don’t trust you can deliver on your promises.
One of the most effective ways to build trust is a strategy known to all black belt marketers: consistency. Most companies send out information once and then stop. It’s similar to a marathon runner stopping just before the finish line. People do read items sent to them—if they are factual and add value. The more people are exposed to you and your products and services, the more they trust you. Consistency builds trust. It’s why marketing professionals send out informational newsletters, which add incremental value each time they are sent, a concept called drip marketing. Shower them with information they can use, such as “a tip of the day.” Show them how to get the most out of your product or service. Just fifty-two tips, one per week, keeps you on their radar. How many of your competitors would do that?
Continue to send out valuable information to your customers, and they will realize that you are the real thing. Once your customers recognize this, you have earned their trust.
It takes a minimum of seven impressions to get someone to take you seriously.
The goal of marketing should be to show prospects why they should trust you: because you are a leader in the field; you can add more value; you understand their problems, pain, and issues better than your competitors. This should show in your communications with them. You want them to think, “Wow, if I can learn so much information from these mailings, what would happen if I actually developed a business relationship with these people and bought their product or service?”
At that point, you can connect with others, you can relate to them, and they can relate to you. This becomes the starting point for trust or relationship building: develop staying power. It’s not a matter of if these prospects will become customers, it is when. These prospects will buy when they see the value to them. They will trust you.
Any business can use this strategy to educate prospects by sending out value items:
Type of business |
Example of a value item |
Dry cleaning |
How to prevent allergies by having clothes dry-cleaned |
Car repair company |
Ideas to keep your car in top-notch condition |
Healthy eating tips and recommendations |
|
Financial planner |
How to develop a nest egg for retirement |
Customers are looking for trustworthy people. Use your black belt to show them that you are the one they should choose.