(By George O. Emetuche)
To be trusted is greater compliments than being loved. – George MacDonald
What do you think is the main factor that sustains a relationship? What do you think encourage friends, spouses, businesses and nations to stay happily together? Why would people confide in a few persons when it comes to issues of the heart? The reason is trust.
Mutual trust is the real deal in business. Trust is the major factor in any relationship. Leaders attract followership if they can make more people trust them. People follow a leader they can trust. Spouses want their partners to trust them. Businesses want to attract trust. Everyone looks out for trust whether as a salesman or as a customer. If you want to succeed as a salesman, ensure that your customers trust you.
Trust determines the direction of relationships. Once there is no trust, there wouldn’t be any need for a relationship. Any relationship without trust is likely going to end in futility.
Trust is not bought but earned
One peculiar thing about trust is that it is earned. It is not what you wish for; it’s what you deserve. I have said this before and I will continue to say it. People may not just trust at first sight. It may take a little time and effort to establish trust. At the beginning of a business relationship, parties may not trust each other. This should be expected because trust is earned.
It is not out of place to earn trust. However, it will be an issue of concern when distrust becomes a pattern. It is also a big issue when trust is betrayed. It is the duty of the parties involved to do things that will attract and sustain mutual trust.
Trust is developed by the day. Trust is like depositing and withdrawing money from your savings account. The account (relationship) increases when you live up to the expectations of the other party and decreases when the reverse is the case. Salesmen should note this important point. Trust means a lot to sales. I often say: no trust, no sales…period!
The salesman is the custodian of mutual trust
I was recently in a sales seminar as a lead speaker and a young professional asked me the definition of a salesman. I smiled and told him that a salesman is the “custodian of mutual trust between his organisation, customers and prospects.”
Yes, the salesman ensures that the trust between his company, the prospect and the customer is sustained. Whenever the salesman is talking about his company’s products or services, his actions or inactions affect the products positively or negatively. His “yes” should be yes and his “no”, no. His word should be his bond. Selling is all about trust.
When they trust you, they do business with you
Trust is not something that starts overnight. It takes a sequence to develop trust because trust is something that emanates from within. People would have observed you for a reasonable period of time before investing trust in you. Trust is like an investment in someone. You give out and expect a lot when you trust. This is one of the main reasons trust should not be betrayed. Once trust is assured, every other thing fits in. Once trust is betrayed, the problem begins!
Trust is a product!
The more you are trusted, the more you are liked. Your target is to win the trust of others. People would want you around them if they like you, but would want to do business with you when they trust you.
Ziglar writes, ‘‘If people like you, they will listen to you. If they trust you, they will do business with you.’’ People’s feeling of affection towards an individual may not necessarily guarantee business relationship with such person but trust does.
Fondness is a facet of trust but not trust in itself. Friendliness is a means to trust and not necessarily trust in itself. Being consistently nice to an individual is likely going to lead to affability and subsequently trust from such individual – if properly managed. The ideal strategy for a salesman in his relationship with customers is to first develop cordiality and subsequently take the relationship to the level of trust.
Trust is a product. It is a product that you earn and not bought. You can’t buy trust with money but you can earn trust through your attitude, character or moral fibre. The time to start is now!
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