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December 23, 2008

Trust in Business: The Core Concepts

Charles H. Green

Trust relationships are vital to the conduct of business. Some base level of trust is required just to have employment contracts, or to engage in commercial transactions. Beyond such minimum thresholds, trust also plays a major role.

The level of trust in business relationships—whether external, e.g. in sales or advisory roles, or internal, e.g. in a services function—is a greater determinant of success than anything else, including content excellence.

How can we think about trust? What conceptual frameworks do we need in order to intelligently assess and improve on trust relationships, and in particular on our levels of trustworthiness?

This article lays out the core trust models I have developed and adopted over the years. They are taken from The Trusted Advisor (with Maister and Galford, Free Press, 2000), and Trust-based Selling (McGraw-Hill, 2006). There are three.

Don't Think Too "Small"

David H. Sandler

Simple as it may sound, many small companies stay small because their owners never dare to think big. It's true: Negative or defeatist thinking is the greatest obstacle to business success. As long as the entrepreneur thinks of himself as a nickel-and-dime operator, his company will never be more than a financial midget scratching around for subsistence earnings. It is an easy trap to fall into. You may, after all, run a small venture with relatively few employees and limited capital. Accepting the role of a small-time business owner is an inexcusable business mistake. It is like drawing a circle around your company and promising not to grow any bigger than these artificial borders.

Sandler Rule: When the Prospect is Listening, You Are Not Selling

During a sales meeting, the prospect should be talking and the salesperson listening. This is especially true during initial sales meetings. Typically, however, the opposite occurs. The salesperson feels compelled to talk about as many features, benefits, and unique selling points of his product or service as time permits in an attempt to capture the prospect’s interest.

If the prospect merely wants a rundown on various aspects of your product or service, he can simply read your marketing brochure. Investing time to meet with you would not be necessary.

“Selling” is not about “telling.” It’s about helping the prospect relate your product or service to the satisfaction of his wants and needs. (And, helping him discover needs of which he was previously unaware.) This is accomplished by asking thought-provoking questions and then listening… really listening.

You can educate (and stimulate interest) with a question more effectively than citing features and benefits. “Our software analyzes regional warehousing and distribution costs in relation to regional sales patterns and identifies areas for cost saving. In more than 72% of the studies performed in the last 12 months, we’ve discovered typical saving of 18-34%. Blah, blah, blah.“ Informative? Yes. Provocative? No. You might as well hand the prospect a brochure and conduct a read-along.

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