How do you earn trust of your prospects/customers?

[Mike_Cartwright]

What are the easiest ways to earn the trust of your prospects/customers? How do you build rapport in sales? How can you sustain it?

 

[Website Design Ltd]

A quick think gives me these rules of thumb:

• A trustworthy online presence (Website, Google My Business)
• Customer reviews (Independent where possible, like TrustPilot or Google My Business)
• Building a good, conversational relationship. (Not everything has to be sales focused. Talk them like a person, not a sales lead. Have a chat, ask about someone's day in a genuine way that shows you are interested)
• Pull out all of the stops to ensure that their first business transaction with you is seamless
• Remain professional

 

[fisicx]

Talking to them usually works well. What doesn't work so well is if there is no human interaction, eg: email contact only or automated responses. Or one company I had contact with only ever communicated in tweets #useless.

 

[Clinton]

You don't project trust just at the point of talking with the customer. If you wait till then it's generally too late. You build trust by putting the background scenery in place first.

Don't lie. (Not even in your ads. Seriously)
Don't spam. (Yes, single opt-in is spam).
Don't be creepy (like using re-marketing or any aggressive or creepy marketing).
Don't treat customers like fools.
Don't rip people off.

Do reply promptly to enquiries.
Do genuinely listen to customers.
Do be fair.
Do be honest with customers (even if that means losing a sale).
Do do some giving without expecting anything in return.
Do "pull" rather than "push" marketing. (The more you push the less trustworthy you are.)
Do prove that you can be trusted by doing the right (honest/ethical) thing every single time in all your business dealings (including with suppliers, tax man, everybody).
Do stop worrying about sales so much and be honest with your customers even if that means losing a sale. (#2)

And my favourite which almost nobody else will agree with :

Do remove sales targets altogether - the harder you try to reach a sales target the more your focus is on you, not the customer. Ditch those targets! Stop chasing money. Aim for something else instead - measure your success by how many lives you've improved, how many people you've made happy, how many puppies you've saved, whatever.

 

[fisicx]

And my favourite (which almost nobody else will agree with ):

I agree with you.

 

[webgeek]

• Put your faces on your website and social profiles.
• Put your phone number and email addresses on your website - prominently posted.
• Put your pricing information on the pricing page.
• Put testimonials with the persons first and last name, position and company.
• Admit it when you get it wrong.
• Praise others when they get it right.
• Deliver ahead of timescale and under budget (but not off by much from forecast).
• Use email subject lines that are an accurate reflection of what the email is really about.
• Give them something of value a few times before you ask them to write you a check for anything.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Hi @Mike_Cartwright,

If you are talking about the online world then trust can certainly improve your conversion rate of sales and leads. It can be built through:

• Customer Reviews (Like WDL said - Trustpilot, Feefo, Yotpo, Bazaar Voice, etc)
• Clear Telephone Number - Sounds silly but many online sites don't have one or hide it away. If it's buried then it looks shady. Also, must be landline and not mobile.
• Live Chat - A great way to build trust and start a conversation for a new prospect to your site because it takes less effort for them than an email or phone call. Great sales tool for any business but handy if the customer just needs some extra info like sizing or delivery.
• Credit Card Logo - AddsFamiliarity
• PayPal Logo Adds Familiarity
• Press Review Quotes and Logos
• Customer Testimonials (Text is good, video stories are better provided they are not cheesy)
• Security Logos (SSL) Logos ( Symantec, RapidSLL, Geotrust, Comodo, etc)
• Case Studies with statistics to prove you can do what you say
• Clear shipping charges - If you are an e-commerce store this is a must.
• Original photos - Not stock shots that look tacky
• A photo of your team - This shows who is behind the company and that you're not afraid to open yourself up to the public.
• A 1st Class About page - You can use this to tell your honest story and why you are different. This will build trust in their kind because it will show you are different.
• Physical Address - Again, sounds silly but many sites don't have this.

On the off-line world I would say:

• Customer References (That you choose not the company. I like to pick a reference off their client list, not a yes-person they want to shove in front of me because they know they will give a glowing reference.)
• Offer something for nothing - I like to be rewarded by a company, even when I haven't bought anything in a while. How many companies do you know that do that? Not many. It's the surprise factor that customers don't expect and it creates loyalty. Small favours go a long way.
• Be Personal - Try to listen to your prospects and pick up on something personal rather than just trying to sell. Then, when you speak to them again, you have an ice-breaker to open the conversation.
• Pain Point Removal - Show them you've listened to their pain points and that you are trying to take them away rather than saying how great your product or service is.
• Be Transparent with Pricing - Nobody likes getting stung at the final hurdle, especially if they've invested time in the research stage. Its important pricing is clear from the start.
• Don't give up if they say no - A personal one here. I've learned that, if a customer says no, it might mean 'not right now'. Most people just turn their back on a customer if they get the cold shoulder. I aim to keep them in the loop with things and dip in every so often to add them a bit of value. It doesn't take long to send a quick email and it's helped me to pick up 4 really good clients in the past.

Matt

 

[Bainzee]

I would agree with the above.

I've done well by having the simple mind set to educate people rather than to sell to them, once the prospect knows that I know what I'm talking about and this is a great way to build trust.

Focus on giving and not receiving and you'll do well

 

[ethical PR]

Provide a quality, reliable, clearly defined service, that your customers want and need, with clearly communicated benefits which clearly differentiates you from your competitors. When you have this promote it effectively to your target customers and their influencers.

 

[UKSBD]

A 1st Class About page - You can use this to tell your honest story and why you are different. This will build trust in their kind because it will show you are different.

One of the most important pages on a website as far as I am concerned, and one that is sadly neglected by lots.

 

[DanBan]

don't change the quality, once your customers like the quality they'll remember you

 

[Gecko001]

You don't project trust just at the point of talking with the customer. If you wait till then it's generally too late. You build trust by putting the background scenery in place first.

Don't lie. (Not even in your ads. Seriously)
Don't spam. (Yes, single opt-in is spam).
Don't be creepy (like using re-marketing or any aggressive or creepy marketing).
Don't treat customers like fools.
Don't rip people off.

Just to add to this very good list:

Don't ring up people you have never met before and ask them "how they are keeping" or "how the day is going for you" etc.
Don't ever use the word "mate".
Don't say "you can trust me" It is pretty obvious, but believe it or not a client who I had worked with for years said this to me once. In 6 months time he went out of business.
Don't compare yourself with your competitors.

 

[Wood Flooring Guy]

Past customer reviews build trust with potential new customers, its that simple.

We tried everything to build brand awareness and attract more customers in our early years, from a local radio ad to google adwords....but the one thing that worked for our wood flooring business (retail and installation) was customer reviews.

We started collecting reviews last January (2016) and we promote them on our website, so anyone checking us out can see our reviews straight away.

All our emails include links to our review page when we send out quotes for work.

I can honestly say reviews are probably one of the main reasons we have had our biggest year in sales.....them and my own fantastic sales pitch of course....

We use Eooro.com, it works really well for our business as they have a Review Collector App that lets us collect 'on the spot' reviews from our customers....we capture reviews both in the shop and on site....our floor fitting teams all have the review collector app on their phones too, so its not just me collecting them....really easy.

Regards
Dave

 

[Donfelix]

Value first.
Selling second.
Focus on customer pain point.
Speak their language. Empathy.
Case studies. Testimonial. Better if you have video.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

• Don't give up if they say no - A personal one here. I've learned that, if a customer says no, it might mean 'not right now'. Most people just turn their back on a customer if they get the cold shoulder. I aim to keep them in the loop with things and dip in every so often to add them a bit of value. It doesn't take long to send a quick email and it's helped me to pick up 4 really good clients in the past.

My first phone call to a prospective customer started badly with a resounding NO. The buyer even said I should put the phone down as I was wasting the cost of the phone call. Over £1.5 million later they are still a customer of my old company.

 

[UACU]

Good online present and reliable service

 

[tech.sense]

hi..for me..be easier to do business with.

right information via website/emails
honest communication
customer reviews/feedback

wasif

 

[Sorodo]

Offer them value without selling them anything to begin with. Give them your attention, offer advice and a true valued connection. Keep doing this and when they are ready, they will come back to you.

 

[ethical PR]

I love the way @Mike_Cartwright keeps starting random topics and never comes back to interact on the thread he created.

 

[Ashley_Price]

What are the easiest ways to earn the trust of your prospects/customers? How do you build rapport in sales? How can you sustain it?

Treat your customers how you would expect to be treated. When you are going to buy something, are you happy with a salesperson who is grumpy and offhand, or do you prefer a helpful person, who knows their stuff and is respectful and polite?

Serve the customer well every time. And if something goes wrong, do all within your power to fix it with minimum inconvenience to the customer.

Don't let them forget you. There is no such thing as customer loyalty these days - there will always be someone who can provide a product or service for cheaper than what you can, so you need to keep reminding that you're there. I don't mean a round robin or emailed newsletter, but a personalised email directed at the specific customer. "Hi Mike, I hope you are well. I saw this article about a company similar to yours and thought you'd be interested. Kind regards..."

 

[Gavin @ Eooro]

Reviews from past customers would be the best way to build trust among potential customers.

Good reviews will continue to win you customers for years to come.

Regards
Gavin @ Eooro.com

 

[Clinton]

I love the way @Mike_Cartwright keeps starting random topics and never comes back to interact on the thread he created.

I'm aware some forums pay people to create fake accounts and start threads to get conversations going. You don't reckon Mike is one of them, do you, especially given that the business in his profile doesn't have a website, isn't listed at Companies House, doesn't advertise and isn't listed in any business or phone directory?

Mike, here's a question you could maybe help us out with - how on earth do you get clients?

 

[360iconsulting]

Hi Mike
Could you tell me what is your business?