I’m sure the most people reading this blog post are sales people, sales managers, or customers who hate sales people. But it isn’t just a catchy title…it’s what’s happening today. And just in case you are wondering if I have any credibility in this area, I have spent over 20 years in the world of sales.
Here’s the issue…credibility. In a world that has been accelerated well beyond what it was just a decade ago because of social media, everyone wants to speed up whatever they are doing…including sales. The process is streamlined, designed to move from one aspect of the process to the next faster than ever before. But the customer isn’t buying this approach…
It goes back to one word…CREDIBILITY. Regardless of how fast we might want the process to move, the customer still needs to establish credibility with you and your company. Unfortunately, just having more information available for them on the internet doesn’t solve the problem. And sending them more information through either traditional or social channels doesn’t do it either…it’s just more information about YOU and not about THEM. This is called “Pushing” or as I affectionately refer to it…”Pimping.”
Here’s the problem…shoving more information about you, your products/services, and how they can buy from you in many different ways doesn’t add to building credibility. Credibility is built through some level of trust…the more they trust you, the higher your credibility. So the big question is this…how, in a short period of time, can you build more trust and thus credibility? It can be done…
Here are Five things you can focus on that work today and can accelerate the sales process for you…
- STOP PIMPING…stop sending your customer more information they simply don’t read anymore
- START HELPING…start sending them specific, helpful content that will make whatever they do easier, faster, or simply better – focus on what helps them do what they do better
- FIND YOUR ADVOCATES…figure out who are your advocates (those who “proactively” tell others how awesome you are) and get them talking about you…creating Word-of-Mouth about you and your business
- LEVERAGE YOUR ADVOCATES…it’s great to have one-to-one word-of-mouth but this is too slow today…you need one-to-many word-of-mouth (we affectionately call this Word-of-Mouth on Steroids) where they can tell others on social channels, reaching thousands in minutes
- CHANGE YOUR SALES PROCESS…overhaul your sales process to incorporate a word-of-mouth strategy so if someone needs to check out your credibility they can do it online very fast…by seeing what your Advocates are saying about you to others
Remember the stat…90% of the people trust a recommendation coming from someone they believe…so start leveraging this and it will not only improve your sales results but accelerate it faster than it has ever been before. It is a “mind shift” for sure…but well worth the investment.
