Question From A Member: How To Earn Trust
Gold Member Alex recently asked for some strategies for getting into his customers' minds and earning their trust in him.
It's a great question, and a topic that's on many people's minds these days.
Trust is a critical element in the selling environment of today. In fact, we frequently reference what we call "The Mighty Wall of Mistrust" when helping clients develop new campaigns.
The concept is that separating you from your customer is a wall of mistrust - made up of anxiety, skepticism, doubt, fear, uncertainty, and the like.
In order to connect with that customer, you must create a way for the customer to come over that wall and in to your court. You can either do that giving the customer a reason to "jump" higher (by creating irresistible appeals they can't live without, making the trust factor less of an issue) or you can lower the wall.
In order to convince the customer to jump, you're going to have to be offering something very unique and uncommon - something they really want and can't find somewhere else.
It's often far easier to lower the wall.
This can be done in several ways. The important thing to remember is that it's not knocked down with a wrecking ball...there's no "one thing" you can do to make a customer truth you.
It's removed brick by brick, layer by layer.
The tools you use to remove those bricks are credibility and believability.
Starting with credibility:
Highlight experience or education, affiliations, Better Business Bureau, trade associations.
I love using information to build credibility. Instead of producing the typical tri-fold brochure, write a small booklet that deliver valuable and relevant content that relates to your business and their lives. Use this booklet to gain credibility and to win them to your way of thinking.
Write articles and submit to local publications or trade magazines.
Offer to speak at various organizations. You'd be amazed at how much credibility to harness with a microphone in your hand.
Next, believability:
Get testimonials. Collect them. Bind them into a book. Plaster them on your web site.
Create a referral program. When someone refers a customer to you, you'll automatically be more believable.
Create joint ventures. Customers may be less skeptical of you if you're in cahoots with another, bigger, better known organization.
These are just a few ideas - and each of the ideas can be expanded on. But with a bit of imagination and a little extra work, you can create elements of credibility and believability that work for your business - even while you sleep.
One last thing, the book "Method Marketing" by Denny Hatch, found in our book list, focuses on getting into the minds of your customers and earning their interest and trust - specifically through copywriting. It's an interesting read and does expose some very important facts.
Here is one specifically:
All of your material, from sales letters, to web sites, to personal interaction, to brochures, should be in the same voice. If you hire a professional to copywrite your material, be sure to edit it to be in your own voice.
If you get a lead using written material, then when they speak to you or get another letter from you, if they don't match, you lose authenticity, and thereby, credibility.
