Making Honesty Your Top Selling Priority

In a recent article about honesty in selling, Colleen Stanley lands one right in this blog’s wheelhouse:

“Honest selling: Two words not often found in the same sentence, much less in the same breath. Maybe it’s time for a breath of fresh air — and the intake starts with you.”

Starting off with a bang! I am loving it.

She goes on to give some specific rules and guidelines we should all use in our day-to-day sales and marketing activities.

Here’s more great stuff from Stanley’s article:

“Tell the truth on the sales call.

“In tough times, character is tested. It can be tempting to sell something you know isn’t of highest value for the client, particularly if the prospect doesn’t know what he doesn’t know….”

“….She didn’t close a sale that day. But she did close a relationship, and now is regarded as a trusted adviser.”

This is a “direct hit” for many in the construction industry.

As a contractor, the biggest monkey you will ever have on your back is the Trust Monkey. If you don’t establish trust, you don’t sell squat.

More than that, if you don’t retain trust the majority of the time with your clients, you will ultimately end up in the tank.

Establishing yourself as a trusted adviser is something I talk about a lot. If you pay attention, you will find this “trusted adviser” approach recommended by many respected leaders in the marketing and sales world.

How do you establish yourself as a trusted adviser? This would be a good start:

1. Focus 100% of your attention on the best interest of the client.

Literally go into sales situations like you don’t have anything at all invested in the situation. You will do what’s best for this potential client. After you listen, build trust, and find out the root truth about what this person really needs and wants, you are literally ready to refer him to your own worst nemesis…if that ends up being the best thing for his situation.

Actually follow through with this step. You will be amazed at the level of trust you can establish.

2. Give, give, and give some more.

What, as far as knowledge or expertise goes, is the single most valuable thing you have access to that would help this client the most in the shortest amount of time?

Find that, and give it away to him as fast as you possibly can.

When you provide awesome value up front, with no strings attached, people will buy from you.

You become a resource, an indispensible ally, a trusted advisor.

Don’t take my word for it. Just give it a go one time, and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

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