When you put yourself in your buyer's shoes and reflect on what is important to them, some things that may come to mind:

· You should trust the salesperson and company

· The product should do what it is expected to do

· The price should be fair

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However, if the first commitment is not gained, for most people there will be no deal.

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When you break it down, we want to trust the person we are buying from. Believe and feel they care enough about understanding our problem to help us solve it with their solution.It doesn’t take a poker player to spot the insincere, self-serving sales reps or companies, the lack of authenticity is felt pretty quick.

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I am a tough customer, mostly because I have spent my entire career in sales. I have clear expectations of what value should be delivered and at what stages. If it is not, I know the lever I have to pull to get what I want.However, when I don’t feel I can trust the person, they are not taking the time to uncover my problem, understand it better or educate me on why it might be happening, I lose interest quickly.

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The term partnership is fundamentally built on trust, your word along with integrity and transparency. If done authentically, they feel your genuineness and the deal picks up a natural pace towards the finish.With the amount of competition in the modern selling environment coupled with a pandemic, the online noise Is loud.

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You may be thinking, I’ll just wait until things quiet down, I don’t want to compete with the noise and I don’t really have anything of value to add. This is where I will stop you.We all have a story. A story of how your product helped a particular client, solution, family, simplified technology purchases etc.

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How can you connect the dots and share it with someone who would find it relevant, applicable and timely to their situation?  By sharing it with the right audience, it allows them to feel they are not on their own, find common ground and connect in a meaningful way.Sometimes we don’t have all the answers, being upfront, lowering our guard and sharing our vulnerabilities disarms our prospects.We show our human side, connect with them and awaken the emotional side of the brain responsible for decision making.

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“People connect with our imperfections not our perfections”.  

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Todd Caponi’s book The Transparency Sale, “is about giving people all of the information the brain requires to feel confident about making a decision. It’s about framing our solutions as a 4.2-4.5, and no longer positioning as though we’re a perfect 5.0. It’s about understanding how feelings and emotions influence the decisions buyers make."

‍Facts Tell, Stories Sell

So how do you apply this to your own life? What 3 things can you start doing to become more transparent to build trust and show your willingness to help and ultimately that you care about your prospects?

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1) Understand your “Why”, when you understand the impact you are looking to have the legacy you want to leave, share it.

You connect on an emotional level and start to build trust, coming from a place of truth and vulnerability. The foundational building block of relationships giving them a compelling reason to move to action

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2) Consider the other Person’s Perspective. How are they feeling, What are they thinking, how do they perceive your solution, What is important to them on the review scale? When you can step inside your buyer’s mind and look at things from their perspective you can tailor your message and make it relevant to them. Tell a story and invite them to be part of it.

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3) Show your human side, don’t shy away from opportunities to share where you learned from a particular person, situation or outcome. Be transparent, demonstrate your appetite for continuous learning and a growth mindset. Having gone through these iterations, you are now more capable, credible and have experienced the full picture. Sharing that confidently is powerful, liberating and builds trust. Remember, they like us are skeptical of the 5.0 rating. Perfection does not exist and they are not looking for it.

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Take yourself back to when you were in the buyer’s seat, you remember those who took extra time to explain things to you, made the decision easy, predictable and safe.

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They were natural, shared enough information so you felt they were genuine and you believed them and trusted them. That’s the one you partner with, they leave no room for alternatives.

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Be the salesperson you would like to buy from.

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