Trust-Based Selling: Using Customer Focus and Collaboration to Build Long-Term Relationships

• Publisher:   McGraw-Hill
• Number Of Pages:   288
• Publication Date:   2005-11-17
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0071461949
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780071461948

Sales based on trust are uniquely powerful. Learn from Charles Green, co-author of the bestseller, THE TRUSTED ADVISOR, how to deserve and, therefore, earn a buyer’s trust.

Buyers prefer to buy from people they trust. However, salespeople are often mistrusted. TRUST-BASED SELLING shows how trust between buyer and seller is created and explains how both sides benefit from it. Heavy with practical examples and suggestions, the book reveals why trust goes hand-in-hand with profit; how trust differentiates you from other sellers; and how to create trust in negotiations, closings, and when answering the six toughest sales questions. TRUST-BASED SELLING. a must for anyone in sales, is especially invaluable for sellers of complex, intangible services.

For years, I have believed that there was "something missing" in the sales programs to which I had been exposed. Despite all the words to the contrary, the many programs seemed manipulative with the focus on "getting the order." The many different incentive programs I've seen employed simply drove that point home. It was always in my sales team's best interest to "take the order off the buyer's desk." And even the more advanced relationship selling programs had that end goal as the reason for building the relationship. It was always about the seller's point of view even as they claimed to be customer oriented. Green finally has given us the language to use that makes it clear how the various rungs on the sales competency ladder lead you to success: product-based to needs-based to relationship-based and finally to trust-based state of mind. The first three rungs on the sales ladder are seller oriented. The last rung is customer oriented. For other than commodity products and services, the old adage that "nothing happens without a sale" must be updated to add "and no significant sale will happen without trust." Each chapter in this must read book begins with a "Chapter at a Glance" box that sets the reader up for what to expect and then Green fulfills that promise. The chapters are broken down into reasonable chunks of information that are easy to find when referring back to previous material. The writing is clear and the message compelling. There are many very useful diagrams, tables, and lists. Green states that there are four principles that drive trust-based selling: (1) A focus on the customer for the customer's sake, not just the seller's sake. (2) A style of selling that is consistently collaborative. (3) A perspective centered on the medium to long term. (4) A habit of being transparent in all dealings with the customer. Each of these principles is described in full, a list of what supports or encourages keeping those principles is given and then a discussion of what destroys the principles is also provided. The insight for the reader (especially those familiar with the usual sales training courses) is how much we are told we must do in sales actually destroys trust with our clients. Green provides us with a memory prodder in the form of an equation: T = (C+R+I)/(S) where T is trust, C is credibility, R is reliability, I is intimacy and S is self-orientation. Credibility is about the words we speak and the domain knowledge we bring to bear. Reliability has to do with our actions and delivering what we promise to the customer/client. Intimacy refers to the safety or security that we feel when entrusting someone with information or feelings. Self-orientation is the perception of whether or not the person in question is only interested in furthering his or her own goals or is more focused on helping others achieve their goals. Each of these parameters are explored in depth. Green then moves on to describe the "Trust Creation Process": Engage-Listen-Frame-Envision-Action. Engage is a focus on understanding what the customer values and being prepared to discuss them. Listen at a higher level to themes and issues that are important and real to the customer. Frame the root issue, problem statement or opportunity statement in terms that both you and the customer agree to. Envision, with your customer, an alternate end-state (how things will look when resolved). And Action is a mutually agreed upon set of executable steps for both you and your customer to move toward the vision. Again, Green goes into detailed explanation of each of these process steps making it clear how important it is to maintain the customer focus throughout the trust creation process. There are many lists throughout the book and I found myself going back to review them as Green built on the concepts he presented. I was very pleased to find that the Appendix has a complete compilation of the lists in the order they were introduced. This will be an excellent reference as the reader implements and integrates the principles in this book in all his or her relationships - not just sales! This book is a must read for not only the sales professional but for any executive who deals with people and has to sell ideas, budgets or plans - so that's just about everyone! For the sales executives and managers, you will need to run interference in your own organization so that your sales team can focus on more mid-term and long-term relationships. The day of stretching the rules and compensation geared toward short-term quarterly goals must go the way of the dinosaurs. Your organization would do well to: adopt the four fundamental principles of Trust-Based Selling; move from being seller-focused to being client-focused; collaborate rather than compete with your customers; care about customers for their sakes - thereby increasing your sales and customer retention rates; and develop the perspective that "the relationship is the customer." Get it, read it and put it into practice.

Many sales experts advocate developing relationships with your clients rather than focusing on single transactions. Charles H. Green encourages you to earn and cherish the trust of your customers; that means putting their needs ahead of yours. He promises that trust-based relationships will generate more income for you in the long run, but only if you are genuinely sincere. You cannot feign trustworthy behavior as a sales tactic; it must come from your heart. Green tells you how to earn real trust, using his four-step sales process and five-step trust-building procedure. He offers a plethora of examples, practical suggestions and useful lists, repeating some strategies for emphasis. We encourage career salespeople to use this book.

If you are working with an organisation that wants to 'become more customer focused' - and let's face it, who doesn't these days - you'll want to read this book. So many organisations, as they begin exploring what 'customer centricity' is all about, will soon realise that effective, long term relationships (and ultimately business success) are built on trust. But I suspect many companies set out to build trust only as long as it helps sell more stuff!
Charles Green's book helps clarify the concept of trust and the importance of becoming truely customer focused as well as the need to understand just how 'self-orientated' most organisations are. This one simple concept, self-orientation, and it's role in limiting trust, is clearly explained and demonstrated. Perhaps it is the prime reason your company is struggling to realise the full potential of customer intimacy!
Good read, well worth the time - but get senior leaders to read it as well.

This client focused book highlights principles needed to move to the next level.

As a salesman for many years I agree with everything that Mr. Green says. In fact I remember a particular sales call where I took my vice president to visit the vice president of a company with whom we were doing business. The customer had issued a requirement for a computer printer. I had brought one of our printers with us and given it to one of his teckies on the way to the meeting. The customer asked, 'is this printer any good?' 'No, its a piece of s**t. But it's the cheapest piece of s**t that meats your specs.' 'It's really that bad?' 'Well,' I said, 'it prints OK after you get paper in it, but putting paper in it is difficult.' The customer smiled a little. "Yeah, I used to have one, I could never get the paper in it.' Then he turned to my VP and said, 'That's why I like to do business with him, he doesn't lie to me.' They changed their specs and down through the years I sold them an awful lot of printers. I think that this story illustrates what Mr. Green is saying. Make a friend, a trusted friend out of a customer or prospect and you can expect to get returns far beyond what you might expect, but only if you are a trusted friend as well.

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