When you finish reading this sentence, close your eyes and think of the first things that come to mind when you hear the word “politician”. Go!
Did you do it? If you did, you may have thoughts like dishonest, not coming through, unkept promises, and deception. Do your prospects think of you in this same way?
Most sales people are looked at with some form of doubt, especially on a cold call. Our prospects think we are all just “selling something”. In order to destroy this stigma, we must build trust and credibility long before we ever cold call the client. Here some suggestions:
- Ask you clients to write letters of reference for you. Have them include the product or service they used and if possible, how you specifically effected their top or bottom line.
- Do market research and provide statistical data on ROI for your product or service.
- Speak at industry related events and share your knowledge
I know that these are simple things and you may have them covered. But if you don’t, you need to start working on them quickly. You see, anyone can walk into a business and tell the prospect that they have “the best”, “the fastest” or “the most effective” product or service in the market place, but words are cheap and the proof is in the pudding!
How is your pudding?