The 5 magic words you’ll hear when you’ve earned your customer’s trust

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Carlos Garcia, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

In my experience working in direct sales, I’ve always been obsessed with wanting to win over my customer’s trust before we engage in any type of solving. The reason being, is because I never want my prospect or customer to ever feel like I’m “selling” them something (the way consumers interpret sales from a negative view – as manipulative or dishonest). So, when do you know that you’ve earned the customer’s trust? Well, there is a balance between the art and science of the conversation; and it truly is all about being present, listening, being curious and finding ways to connect with your customer by showing a high level of empathy.

I’ll get to the 5 magic words in a moment.

First, let’s break down what some key steps you can to take to earn your customer’s trust:

PRE-WORK – Doing some research prior to the appointment and learning about the customer’s background can give you some good insight around their personality, lifestyle, hobbies, likes and dislikes. This can help you make a connection faster and start building some common interests. This will lower their defense mechanism and they will appreciate you for doing the homework.

CONNECT – Take a few minutes before jumping into the agenda to learn about their weekend, any upcoming exciting things in the works, family, interests and find ways to make the environment comfortable as if you were 2 friends catching up. This is just another way to help your prospect or customer to see you as a person as well. Don’t be afraid to share some personal things about yourself as well. In the end it’s all about building relationships.

FRAMING – When you’re ready to transition to the conversation, it’s key to frame up what you want to accomplish out of the meeting so that you can set the tone of what it is, and what it is not. There’s also an opportunity to open it up to your customer or prospect and ask them “Is there anything I didn’t mention you want to accomplish?”. Make them feel included in the interaction and they will be more invested.

ASKING POWERFUL QUESTIONS – In a sales conversation, it’s important to understand that asking the right questions is the key to truly uncovering your customers’ pain points and getting them to think through their answers. Positioning your questions is your most powerful tool to engage in a productive conversation. When you get the customer to say it, that’s their truth. This is more powerful than just talking and presenting to the customer, you will lose them if you start the conversation with presenting or talking about what you have to offer. Follow 80/20 rule, make sure your customer is talking 80% of the time at the beginning of your conversation and you are talking 20%.

LISTEN TO THE CUES & NAVIGATE – Once you are able to get the right rhythm of questions, your customer will get more comfortable to open up about their perceived needs, their process, and open up some more. Sometimes, with the right questions asked, you will get them to share unperceived needs. This is the moment where they will be giving you GIFTS. Yes, these gifts are the verbal and non-verbal cues that will help you really understand where the pain points are. You’ll want to listen for a change in volume, tone, facial expressions, body language, etc. and even verbal cues can give you insight.

PARAPHRASE, WHAT IF – Once you have gathered a good amount of information and you feel like you’ve identified a solution that you think will solve a true need, this is where you’ll want to summarize all that they’ve told you and it could sound something like:

PARAPHRASE – “Sarah, it sounds like your best employee is carrying about 60% of your total sales and the rest of the team is really dragging behind on their goals…”

WHAT IF – “What would you do if you tomorrow your top salesperson left and all the sudden they take half of those customers to a competitor?”
This is just one example, but by the end of following these steps, you’ll want your customer to say

“I HAVEN’T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT”

These are the magic 5 words. Making sure that you are leading the conversation through listening with empathy, identify the pain point, and position their problem back to them with a slight tweak of a “WHAT IF” question. This is the biggest “TRUST TEST” you will pass with your customers, and they will now see you as a trusted advisor, because you’ve taken your time to really understand their situation and helped them uncover their pain points from a different angle.

Looking for ways to build better customer relationships and win more business? Reach out and let’s connect!