These are, just a few examples, of customers behaviours when they distrust the sales person.  As such, to get customers interested and excited about what you have to offer, you first have to win their trust.

A Question of Lust

     The reasons that customers don't trust sales people is very simple: they feel that the only thing that sales people care about is getting their money.  Sadly, this "lust for the customers' money" is quite true with many sales people out there, AND customers can smell them from miles away.

     When customers make purchases, what they really want in exchange for the money they spend, is substantiated value.  That is, can the products or services they buy bring better productivity, reduce wastages or simply improve their quality of life. 

      Hence, the first step to build trust is this: you have to be perceived as being on the customers' side and proactively help solve customers' problems. 

      Here's a simple example.  When most sales approach their prospective customers, they will say something like, "Hello, my name is xyz, and I'm from abc company.  How are you today?  I would like to show you a demo of our latest productivity-enhancing gadget.  As I will be around your vicinity on Tuesday afternoon, can I come and see you around 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.?" 

     The problem with this way of approach lie in how these intended customers respond.  They will either just say "not interested", or say yes and then get their secretaries to tell you "the boss has an urgent meeting, please leave your materials on the front desk, and we will call you when we have a need".

     The reason for such responses from customers is that they don't trust what you said.  They probably have seen just too many "productivity-enhancing gadgets", and hear too many "I happen to be just in your neighbourhood" stories  and certainly will be too busy to meet just another peddler of gadgets.  Furthermore, they don't trust you enough to tell you their "productivity" challenges, if that is what your product will solve.

     To overcome such trust issues at initial contact, both sales people and their managers will have to work together to build trust and allay customers' fears that they will be rip off, or that they will be wasting their time.

     From the sales person perspective, she will have to provide the customer what Miller Heiman calls a Valid Business Reason into her opening call, e.g. "Hi, my name is xyz.  I understand that many companies in your industry are facing serious challenges due to the sharp increases in raw material costs.  I'd like to explore with you if we can help improve your productivity, and thereby reducing your costs."  

     From the sales managers' perspectives, trust will have to be built beyond the initial cold-call.  Customers are likely to increase their trust if they had seen testimonies and case studies of past successes, PRIOR to the initial phone calls from sales people.

Build Credibility, NOT Benefits

     Traditionally, many companies focus merely on the "Features, Advantages and Benefits", none of which will work IF the customer does not trust you enough.  Hence, sales people would have to build credibility during the course of the sales process, namely: