As an entrepreneur who didn’t come from a sales background, this was one of the areas I found the most challenging when I started my business and sometimes even now it’s something that can get the better of me on occasion.
Even if you’ve come from a sales background, there’s a huge mindset shift you must make from selling someone else’s products and services to selling your own, especially as a coach or consultant.
When selling your expertise and knowledge, the people who have the most success are the ones who understand that building trust is the best sales technique you can use.
It was Zig Zigler who said, “If people like you they will listen to you, but if they TRUST you they will buy from you.”
Building trust is the real and only secret ingredient to success out of all the ‘secret ingredients’ that are professed about all over the internet.
The Power of You!
Before you can even think about getting people to trust you, you have to trust yourself. You have to know why you’re valuable, you have to appreciate both the strengths and the vulnerabilities that have shaped your life and made you the person you are today.
There may be other entrepreneurs whose success you would love to emulate, but you need to remember that you are on your path, not theirs. You must find your own way of shaping what you do into an authentic and credible service that allows you to shine with honesty and integrity.
Those are the attributes that people look for in a coach or consultant. Not someone who’s going to sell, but someone who genuinely cares about their challenges. Someone who listens and can empathise with their need to find a solution that works.
Remember that in the majority of cases, people say no not because they can’t afford to work with you, but because they can’t afford to lose money on a solution that may not work.
This is where building trust starts.
Creating the Trust Factor
When I started out, I worked with people I knew so there was already an element of trust there, but the real test came when I started to work with clients who had no previous experience or relationship with me.
Spending time with new clients and getting to know them is a great way to break the ice. So, I would usually arrange a neutral meeting place and have a very informal conversation to start with and agree to follow-up with some free information or support that they could get started with.
I addition, I now also offer free sessions which allows them to experience my style of working and for us both to ensure that we were the right fit for each other.
Once they’ve had that initial experience of how you work and the experience you can offer and they’re happy with what you have delivered, then you can progress to your paid solutions.
I order for me to improve what I was doing, it was important to ask for feedback without being afraid of hearing anything negative. Fortunately, most of the feedback was favourable and helpful to enhancing my services.
It’s really important for me to help my clients feel motivated and inspired to make the changes they need to make or implement the solutions I recommend. So, it’s essential to stress that the relationship has to be collaborative if it’s going to be successful.
Your clients will work with you because you have knowledge and expertise that they don’t have or because they need to outsource work that they don’t have time to do themselves.
So, just be yourself, listen to their needs and goals and allow your personality to build the trust and value in what you have to offer.
For more information on how I can support you with becoming an entrepreneur and growing your business by developing your personal brand into a successful business brand, please visit my website and schedule your free 45 minute brand discovery session today.
