Sales Strategy
Modern Day Selling: How To Establish Trust With Your Customer | April 29, 2015 (0 comments)
Tallahassee, FL—Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed help but felt very vulnerable? The first thing that comes to my mind is taking my car for repair. Clearly I am there to have work done to my car, but to not look ignorant I act like I know what needs to be done and offer very little information. I know nothing about car repair, and I fear I will be overcharged or otherwise ripped off. The person who can help me has not yet gained my trust.
Unfortunately, this is a pretty common scenario for jewelers, too. This is exactly how many of your customers feel when they enter your store for the first time. In my previous article, I outlined skills to connect with your customer by offering a service that benefits them and helping them relax. Guess what? Many still don’t trust you.
At this point it is vital for you to establish a bond of trust with your customer by communicating effectively. I’ll illustrate with a car repair experience. My tires were sliding when it began to rain. I explained my situation to the first associate. He proceeded to offer a long-winded explanation involving plenty of terms foreign to me, like “popcorn in my tires,” and closed by saying I needed to replace my tires. I left feeling like I was being taken advantage of and, needless to say, no tires were replaced that day.
The next day the problem happened again. I went back to the same place and told a new salesman of my previous experience and that nobody I knew had ever heard the term “popcorn in your tires.” This salesman walked me to my car, pointed at the wear on my tread, and showed me where some wire was breaking through the surface. He said, “I bet you are sliding around like crazy when the roads are wet, aren’t you? You got popcorn in your tire and they need to be replaced.”
I never told him I’d been sliding around, but he knew. Without hesitation, I replaced the tires and have continued to go there for all my tire needs.Trust begets loyalty.
So, let’s recap the situation: two guys told me the exact same thing. In truth, the first guy seemed a lot more knowledgeable, but he was unable to gain my trust, and thus my business. Both were confident, knowledgeable, and skilled enough to assist me. What the second guy did that was more effective was to create a visual that made it very clear why my tires needed to be replaced.This assured me that I could trust him and that he was looking out for my best interest. My last two visits there have been quick and easy because the bond of trust has been established. I was now a simple-minded customer.
Understanding product knowledge and selling skills will only get you so far on the sales floor. They’re important but it’s the ability to connect with people and build trust that will set you apart and bring you greater success.
In order to establish trust, you must be able to speak clearly and effectively to your customer’s needs. This assures them that you are a professional and that you want to help them.
Modern Day Selling offers the freshest new insight in jewelry sales training designed to help sales associatse achieve greater success. As a yearly million-dollar-plus sales associate for the past eight years, Brian Barfield practices what he preaches on finding success based on the core principles of trust, honest and integrity. He is a two time published author whose insight is being recognized around the world. For more information or in-store training, visit his website or email brian@moderndayselling.com.