Know, Like, Or Trust?
If you’re in sales, you’ve maybe heard this phrase, “People only do business with people they know, like, and trust.” I agree with that, but I want to unpack it a little.
People ultimately only do business with people they like, but it’s hard to like someone you don’t know. And it’s hard to want to know someone you don’t trust.
Everything starts with trust, and often know and like fall into place once someone trusts you.
How do you build a relationship on trust? Assuming you already have integrity and are trustworthy, here are a couple ways.
The first is to listen. And the easiest way to listen is to learn someone’s story. One of my favorite ways to listen is by starting with, “Tell me your story,” and go from there. I also like to use what I call context questions. Here are some examples, “How did you get started in [such-and-such business]?”, “What did you do before [such-and-such business]?”, “When did you first realize that you wanted to do [such-and -such]?”, etc.
By going back in time and appreciating their journey, you can develop context for who they are today.
The second is to be a man of your word. If you say you’re going to send them an email, do it when you said you would. If you say you’re going to give them a call, do it when you said you would. Build trust by doing what you said you would do.
Those two things, listening and follow through, are the fastest ways I’ve been able to build trust.
And it’s hard to move forward without trust.
What do you think?
Joseph