Make the Sales Process Easier by Establishing Credibility
Make the Sales Process Easier by Establishing Credibility
Let’s assume that you have what your prospective customers are looking for: excellent service, high ethical and quality standards, a near-perfect track record in living up to promises and producing desired results, and the skills or knowledge to help your clients achieve their goals or solve their problems. Think about it. You are exactly what people are scouring the Internet or Yellow Pages for and spending countless hours researching. If you’re not in demand now, then you ought to be!
What’s Standing in the Way?
In all likelihood, your phone isn’t ringing off the hook because you haven’t convinced your prospects that you can offer them all these desirable qualities and benefits. That’s where marketing strategy comes in!
Whether or not people ask you these questions, you can be sure it’s almost always on their minds: "How long have you been in business? What are your credentials? Are there people who can vouch for your dependability (provide references)? Why should I feel secure choosing you over the competition for this important project/need/solution?
Strategies for Establishing Credibility & Trust
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a minute and try to think like someone who’s in the market for your services. At some level, they’re thinking, “Why should I put my faith in this person or business?”
One good way to project an image of reliability is to join the Better Business Bureau and display their logo in your ads, stationery, brochures, and web site. According to their web site, “members of local BBBs are businesses and firms which meet tough BBB membership standards, agree to follow the highest principles of business ethics and voluntary self-regulation, and have a proven record of marketplace honesty and integrity.”
Another approach to making a good impression is to join professional organizations and display that affiliation, wherever space allows, in your ads, letters, and marketing literature. Someone who’s a member of a professional or industry organization usually cares about ethical standards, working cooperatively with others, and keeping their training up to date. It also conveys the impression that they take their profession seriously and that they’re not a ‘fly by night’ operation. Membership in Chambers of Commerce can also be an image-enhancing investment.
Some other ways to establish credibility and trust include being active in the community, earning professional credentials, appearing in the media as an organizational or industry spokesperson, conducting seminars, teaching classes, writing a newspaper column, and speaking at public events and meetings. Having a well-designed, up-to-date website (that’s not ‘under construction’), professional-looking business cards, and an impeccable reputation are also important facets of branding you and your company as a dependable and quality-conscious source of products and services.
Make the Sales Process Easier by Establishing Credibility - To learn more about this author, visit Joel Sussman's Website.
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As a salesperson or the owner of a small business, do you consider yourself to be qualified, experienced, and dependable? More importantly, have 95% of your customers had a satisfying experience doing business with you or your company? If your answer is ‘yes’ to all those questions, then your services or products have the potential to be in high demand. The trick is effectively communicating that information to your target market.
Let’s assume that you have what your prospective customers are looking for: excellent service, high ethical and quality standards, a near-perfect track record in living up to promises and producing desired results, and the skills or knowledge to help your clients achieve their goals or solve their problems. Think about it. You are exactly what people are scouring the Internet or Yellow Pages for and spending countless hours researching. If you’re not in demand now, then you ought to be!
What’s Standing in the Way?
In all likelihood, your phone isn’t ringing off the hook because you haven’t convinced your prospects that you can offer them all these desirable qualities and benefits. That’s where marketing strategy comes in!
Whether or not people ask you these questions, you can be sure it’s almost always on their minds: "How long have you been in business? What are your credentials? Are there people who can vouch for your dependability (provide references)? Why should I feel secure choosing you over the competition for this important project/need/solution?
Strategies for Establishing Credibility & Trust
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a minute and try to think like someone who’s in the market for your services. At some level, they’re thinking, “Why should I put my faith in this person or business?”
One good way to project an image of reliability is to join the Better Business Bureau and display their logo in your ads, stationery, brochures, and web site. According to their web site, “members of local BBBs are businesses and firms which meet tough BBB membership standards, agree to follow the highest principles of business ethics and voluntary self-regulation, and have a proven record of marketplace honesty and integrity.”
Another approach to making a good impression is to join professional organizations and display that affiliation, wherever space allows, in your ads, letters, and marketing literature. Someone who’s a member of a professional or industry organization usually cares about ethical standards, working cooperatively with others, and keeping their training up to date. It also conveys the impression that they take their profession seriously and that they’re not a ‘fly by night’ operation. Membership in Chambers of Commerce can also be an image-enhancing investment.
Some other ways to establish credibility and trust include being active in the community, earning professional credentials, appearing in the media as an organizational or industry spokesperson, conducting seminars, teaching classes, writing a newspaper column, and speaking at public events and meetings. Having a well-designed, up-to-date website (that’s not ‘under construction’), professional-looking business cards, and an impeccable reputation are also important facets of branding you and your company as a dependable and quality-conscious source of products and services.
Make the Sales Process Easier by Establishing Credibility - To learn more about this author, visit Joel Sussman's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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