In one word, what’s the biggest challenge facing marketing? This question was asked recently in a LinkedIn group. The responses were many and all had validity. However, the first person’s response echoed with me. The word was trust.

People buy from people they know and trust. This is the first sales buying rule or axiom. Maybe this understanding is why celebrities have represented so many products over the years. Back in the 1950s when television advertising was just starting, we heard Bing Crosy, Bob Hope and Dinah Shore selling everything from cigarettes to gasoline to automobiles (“Drive the USA in a Cheverolet”). Later, Bill Cosby became the face or spokesman for Jell-O and now we have Mike Rowe of “Dirty Jobs” telling use about Ford vehicles, wearing Lee Jeans and cleaning up messes with Brawny paper towels.

Trust is essential within the buying decision-making process. Sometimes people may believe they have it and then when the solution be it a product or service does not yield the desired results, buyer’s remorse sets it. Sales Training Coaching Tip: Trust takes weeks, months to years to build, but can be lost in just a matter of micro-seconds.

How a business or even a salesperson establishes trust is unique to each individual. Trust is the end result of numerous demonstrated competencies by business people including technical smarts (job specific skills) to people smarts (interpersonal skills) to even self-smarts (intra-personal skills). Sales Training Coaching Tip: The capacity to build trust is directly linked to a person’s emotional intelligence (EI).

The Value System

The challenge is that each buyer has his or her own created his or her own value system. This value is directly connected to the “trust factor.” For example, Mike Rowe is perceived to be the average guy doing hard, dirty work. Many buyers believe in the value of hard work. They see him mired in muck and believe him to be one of the guys with an attitude of when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

His trust and value factor is then transferred to Ford vehicles, Lee Jeans and Brawny paper towels. Another individual who has earned significant trust is Mike Holmes from “Holmes on Homes” and “The Holmes Inspection” TV shows. Thousands of homeowners write to Holmes to solve significant and repetitive problems that others had allegedly fixed in their homes. His value -- “Do It Right” -- is his trust and value factor.

Trust Is Required To Increase Sales

Marketing for many small business owners and crazy busy salespeople is built upon the trust factor. For these professionals who are continually building relationships to help them increase sales and move their businesses forward trust is their word to do what needs to be done. So if you wish to increase sales, invest the time to determine your trust factor and how you can strengthen that trust with your potential to existing customers or clients.

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