Credibility and Trust

What does everyone do to establish credibility or trust during a sales call? Do you have any special methods or techniques that you recommend? -Iceman

There are things you can do and not do that will help. I wouldn't talk bad about others or disclose private information about others. I would admit it when I didn't know something or if I've made a mistake instead of hiding it. -Marcus

Talk in terms of the other person's interests instead of your own. This translates to giving a tailored presentation based on the clients wants and needs instead of generic presentation. :) -Liberty

I like Dale Carnegie's idea; "Don't criticize, condemn, or complain". -Mikey

How about establishing trust by establishing rapport. ;) -Milton

Be oneself.

It is for that reason that I place much greater vaue on identifying conditions of mutual trust and respect than attempting to create them. -Gary Boye

How do you do that? -Iceman

I know if I trust and respect someone. In simple terms, I can assess another person's level of trust and respect for me by their behavour with me. So that covers both ends of the "mutual" conditions. -Gary Boye

That is interesting. How would someone else do this? -Iceman

I'm interested too. Please explain. :) -Seth

Iceman and Seth, I think what Gary is saying that he decides whether or not he trusts the prospect and if the prospect trusts him. -Agent Smith

I don't understand the requests. I'm sincerely sorry. Explain what exactly?

Is this something that either of you feel that you can't do and have an interest in learning? Is it about the part about assessing one's own's feelings of trust and/or respect towards another---or observing the behavour of another to determine whether they trust and respect you?

I don't know if I would be qualified to teach either of those things to anyone who felt they couldn't do them. At least I never have. Perhaps it's something born of experience. I don't think I have any inherent gift in that regard.

Agent Smith is correct in what he said. I wish I could be more helpful. -Gary Boye

I think that it would be hard to sell someone on an idea, for instance, if they don't trust you or what you say.

It makes sense to me that the more trust between you and the prospect the better which is why I asked about the different ways to do this.

You said you placed greater vaue on identifying conditions of mutual trust and respect than attempting to create them. If that means you personally decide if you trust the prospect and if the prospect trusts you then I understand.

If this trust isn't already there do you try to establish trust? -Iceman

If you meet a prospect for the first time and that prospect doesn't know anything about you, your company, or your product then what would be the basis for trusting you? -Seth

Trust and respect can be developed. No question about it.

It would be great if you already had a mutual trust and respect with your prospects but that will not always be the case. So what do you do? You give the prospect a reason to trust and respect you.

Think of it like this...

• Do you T/R people with shifty eyes and/or won't look you in the eyes during a discussion?
• Do you T/R peope who say one thing but act another way?
• Do you T/R people who talk about others?
• Do you T/R people who don't respect your time and show up late?
• Do you T/R people who come across as loud and obnoxious?
• Do you T/R people who don't actively listen to you?
• Do you T/R people who don't seem to understand you and your situation?
• Do you T/R people that don't seem to have your best interests at heart?
• etc, etc, etc.

-SalesGuy

Your question clarifies where you're coming from, I think. Thanks.

To answer your question: Most often not, unless I detect a miscue in communication.

Please understand that I am not a person that faces distrust on a regular basis. So establishing trust through an interview or sales conversation process is not high on my list of priorities. Disqualifying prospects if conditions of mutual trust and respect don't exist would be a priority.

By the way, there is a wonderful new book on selling that covers something very similar to this. Michael port recently wrote Book Yourself Solid which I recommend highly. In it he discusses the need to decide who we want as our clients and who we don't. He calls it "the velvet rope".

Among those who would not be allowed past my personal velvet rope would be people who don't trust me, people who are disrespectful, people who lie, people I don't trust, people I don't respect, and people who procrastinate.

The good part for me has been there are so darn many people to talk to who do not fall into those categories.

Hope that clarifies at least a little. -Gary Boye

That's a good question.

But I think that there could be too many possible answers because distrust can stem from many things. Among them could be their upbringing, their general attitude towards their fellow man, possible fear, bad experiences in the past, a distrustful nature, negative transference, untrustworthiness on their own part...and I'm sure many many more.

Many years ago I discovered I could make more money if I didn't compensate for others. To do so would keep me from spending my time with better prospects which I choose to do. Confession: Selling is a lot of fun but I'm in it for the money and always have been.

Many choose a different philosophy than my own, of course. It's a free country. -Gary Boye

If a prospect exhibited any or all of those traits to me, I would probably disqualify him/her.

Although I have had some clients that were loud and obnoxious...and I'm glad I kept them. They kept their word and had a lot of other virtues.

What would you do? -Gary Boye

Then it's probably a safe bet that if a salesperson exhibited any of those traits the prospect might disqualify him/her. That's the point. -SalesGuy

Do you agree that the general public is distrusting of salespeople on the whole? -Iceman

I sure would.

So to take your perspective one step further, are you suggesting that the key to establishing trust and respect, for those who are inclined to focus on that, is to not do those things? Or something more? -Gary Boye

I am suggesting that there are many things a salesperson can do that to help (or hurt) in the trust department. Or put another way, people are more inclined to trust those people who do not exhibit the characteristics I outlined earlier. -SalesGuy

I would hope that everybody here doesn't exhibit those characteristics. They are certainly terrible things for a salesperson to do.

So would you say that in the absence of those things, trust and respect from the prospect would usually exist? -Gary Boye

I appreciate that. It sounds like you have found what works for your situation. :) -Seth

I deliberately chose some of the more common offenses I've witnessed salespeople commit. ;)

Not at all. To answer Iceman's question, I think the general public is very distrusting of salespeople and for good reason. -SalesGuy

Salesguy, what do you think is the easiest way to establish trust? -Iceman

Transference of trust through an introduction or referral. -SalesGuy

Even though a large segment of the general public are salespeople themselves?

What good reason are you referring to? Is it among the ones you listed?

I hate to bombard you with these questions, but I don't think of the sales profession that way. I have always been proud to be in it at any level.

I do know that there are a few bad eggs in any field--not just sales. -Gary Boye

I welcome questions from you and everyone else. With that said, I recall you mentioning on several occassions your knowledge and experience in the field of sales. Are you seriously not aware of the public's perception of salespeople in general? -SalesGuy

I agree. Just checking to see if we're on the same wavelength. ;co -Iceman

Based on nothing more than my posts would you say you trust and respect me? -SalesGuy

To an extent, sure. :) -Iceman

That's the way it works. ;) -SalesGuy

That's the way what works? -Iceman

Credibility and Trust.

Based on your interpretation of my posts you might feel that I am a credible source and can be trusted when it comes to information on personal selling. You trust me to an extent... to the extent that we're talking about personal selling. This does not infer that you would trust me with your financing, your car repair, or even mowing your yard. Trust, and credibility, has bounderies. -SalesGuy

I hadn't thought about it like that. Good point. ;co -Iceman

In my opinion, "Trust" is a vital element in personal selling. I am not convinced that the general salesperson realizes this or understands what role their behavior plays in establishing and/or diminishing trust with others. -SalesGuy

This has been a great thread. I'd just like to add "believability" to the list. :) -Marcus

I am not convinced either. :( -Milton

Well I should hope you welcome questions. But you don't always answer them.

Based only on the information from your posts, I'm aware that I don't always agree with your perceptions on selling. That's no big deal. If everbody agreed with one another here, nobody would show up.

In this particular instance, if you are implying that the general public's perception of salespeople in general agrees with yours, I would say that is incorrect.

Please don't be offended. I'm just being honest in my statements...and I think that's always a good thing.

And, you didn't ask...but I do trust and respect you. Agreement is not always a prerequisite...I'm sure you know. -Gary Boye

I think if you polled the general public with the question "Do you trust salesmen?" the answer would probably be more towards NO. However, I think the real life actions of people are to the contrary. I can't think of a time I have walked into a sales situation where I started out not trusting the salesman. I think I start at a point of indifference, then through our interaction I will start to lean toward trust or distrust.

I think a similar profession to compare this to would be lawyers. I think if you did a poll of whether people think that "Lawyers are sharks" or something similar, most people would have a negative feeling of lawyers. However, if you have ever went to get a Will, Trust, or any other work done with a lawyer, I heavily doubt you walked into the situation with the feeling that you were dealing with a "shark". -Derek

What do you believe my perception of salespeople is? -SalesGuy

IMO, trust for many does not come by default.

Given the "salesperson vs. customer" attitude that has been propagate over the years via "traditional sales training" I can see why the public is sceptical and untrusting of salespeople. IMO, this is an obstacle that salespeople need to acknowledge and prepare for. -Liberty

Liberty, given that only a relatively small portion of the public is privy to the elements of "traditional sales training", do you think that the behavour founded from that training that the public is then exposed to is what makes them as skeptical and untrusting as you suggest?

That would be an interesting paradox. Traditional sales training teaches methods to establish trust which then, when used, impair trust. Paradox or not---I'm inclined to agree with your remark about traditional sales training. -Gary Boye

I think that a large portion of sales training materials instruct salespeople to be agressive, thick skinned, don't take no for an answer, and so on. This type of behavior is counter productive to establishing or maintaining trust. -Liberty

Possibly negative which surprises me. When you said on this thread, "To answer Iceman's question, I think the general public is very distrusting of salespeople and for good reason.", the good reason part made me think that could be the case.

"General public" is sort of a catch-all term. I guess it could decribe the people in my own life, inner and outer circles, which includes...like your own...family friends, associates, former employees, former employers, partners, members of professional and common interest groups, prospects, and, of course, past and present clients, etc.

I thought about it, because of course I value everbody's opinions who post here. I was able to come up with only three people---there certainly could be more who actuall voiced a negative attitude towards salespeople in my presence.

One actually happened this past week--a physician who is a client said something partially in jest suggesting that a salesperson would "tell you anything." Most of her conversation outside of our business, however',centered on how disillusioned she was being a physician her remorse and that she's not making the money she thought she would make. Another comment in the last two years came from a friend who is a tool and die maker and talks a lot about how he hates his job and is just putting in the time. The last example was from a customer and family aquaintence who owns a struggling distributorship for industrial parts. He, too,is very stressed out with his lot in life.

Those are the only cases I can think of. Your comments of course--I left that out. So that make four. I'm sure there are more like I mentioned. -Gary Boye

I very much agree with you. -Gary Boye

My perception of salespeople is by no means "negative". ;) -SalesGuy

I'm not sure I'm reading this right. Gary are you saying that the general public's initial reaction towards salespeople is one of trust?

So, for example, when the general public first drives up to a car dealership they would initially trust the salesperson because they believe the salesperson will be looking after their best interests? -Houston

Perhaps you aren't: Here is what was said:

SG:
To answer Iceman's question, I think the general public is very distrusting of salespeople and for good reason.

Me:
In this particular instance, if you are implying that the general public's perception of salespeople in general agrees with yours, I would say that is incorrect.

I also described in a subsequent post that my observations of the various facets of the general public have rarely revealed a common attitude of distrust.

Understand that if I take my own life experiences, I must weigh them heavier than opinions I read on a forum, or for that matter, many other sources. I think that everybody should in a lot of cases.

To address your auto dealership question, I think that some people driving up to such a place might feel an attitude of distrust towards some unknown salesperson they envision meeting. I don't know the percentage. But they would probably not be among the large percentages of repeat customers, return prospects, referred prospects, and experienced car buyers who are not gun shy. Members of those groups would not often be driven by distrust. -Gary Boye