Four Reasons Why Clients Don’t Believe You

A green plastic watering can
For a fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man…
Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead.

Someone recently paid $450m for Salvator Mundi, the long-lost Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus Christ commissioned by King Louis XII of France more than 500 years ago.

Massive amount of money, isn’t it?  Especially when you consider this: the authenticity and condition of the piece have been questioned. The painting has passed through some pretty dubious hands – it could be fake. Someone just took a big leap of faith before writing a record-breaking cheque. Which goes to show, art is ultimately about belief.

In the world of buying and selling, belief is going to be the theme of 2018. Why? Because your customer can find out everything they need to know before contacting you. There is truth everywhere. In a few simple key strokes customers can, and do, find out information such as:

• Your background, employment history and social media profile
• How much money your company makes
• How your product or service compares price-wise
• What working for your company is really like
• What your customers really say about you
• And pretty much anything else that they care to find out

Which means by the time they talk to you, they have a pretty clear picture of the truth. So all you have to do from there is provide an authentic, believable sales experience. Which should be simple. But it’s not, because their belief can be eroded pretty easily.

Here’s our Top 4 Ways to Destroy Client Trust:

1) Fake or forced behaviour: We believe in natural, authentic style when selling. In fact we believe it so much that we named our company after it. That’s why we train people to be the best version of themselves. Fake body language such as forced ‘over smiling’, rigid presentations or robotic-sounding scripts tell us that you’ve got something to hide.

2) Lack of genuine passion: You can tell when someone is absolutely enthusiastic about something, versus going through the paces. Yes – their voice and manner is a dead-set giveaway. But it’s also possible to measure passion through the way written communication comes across. I can tell in the first few lines how enthusiastically fingers are hitting the keyboard, versus a ‘cut and paste job’.

3) Lack of proper proof: If I’m buying you, I want to hear from some of your raving fans. I want to hear how you have changed their world for the better. If you don’t have any raving fans, I can tell, and I will run a mile.

4) The smell of desperation: If you want my business too much, I smell a rat. It’s fine to be enthusiastic, of course. But if you’re throwing the kitchen sink at me, then something ain’t quite right.

Underlying all of our sales training is natural authenticity. We give salespeople confidence by showing them simple techniques that are easily absorbed and replicated in a human, warm way.

So, in preparation for a brilliant selling year in 2018, it makes sense to do an ‘authenticity audit’ on your sales milestones, including your calls, emails, proposals and marketing literature. How sure are you that the approach you are using is a convincing one? How can you get back to your roots, the real ‘why’ about your business?

Believe me, the art of belief is huge. And it’s only getting bigger. If you want to fuel your sales effort with authentic selling that converts customers to take action, then call us today on 0207 043 1582.