Episode #254: Building Customer Loyalty

We all know that without trust there will be no sale and much worse than that, no ongoing sales. So how do we build trust with our buyers? It is a critical salesperson facility, because research shows that 63% of buyers would rather buy from someone they completely trust, than from someone who gives them a better price. Think about that – trust trumps price. What is the cost of creating trust versus having to resort to discount pricing to get deals done?

Our mindset is the key. We have to be thinking “relationship” and “partnership” with the buyer, rather than a single transaction, a fleeting encounter, a “one and done”. We always want the reorder, don’t we? Of course we do. Because our thinking is “long term relationship”, our communication will also reflect this approach. Once our communication changes, the buyer will relax and will be more open to building a long-term relationship. Buyers are experts at sensing danger and duplicity. They can smell a rat from a long way away and they are permanently on guard against being ripped off. How happy they are to find a salesperson they can genuinely trust. We say, “a good man is hard to find” and we can also say “a good salesperson is hard to find”. When you are the buyer and you find one you are relieved.

What is our salesperson mindset about winning in business? Is it “in the buyer’s success lies our success” and so the business must benefit both parties? If we are thinking like this then we don’t want: Win-Lose or Lose-Lose or Lose-Win outcomes. We want Win-Win between the buyer and seller. This sounds simple, but desperate salespeople have trained buyers to be very wary about whose interests this transaction is really designed to serve.

Buyers can feel our salesperson intention and if it is “we win- they lose”, they can feel that too. We have all made purchasing mistakes which we have come to regret and have have had a harsh internal conversation with ourselves pledging “that will never happen again”. Therefore we salespeople need to be projecting we are honestly searching for a win-win outcome. We are seeking the reorder.

Now buyer repeat business is a simple equation: Trust + Relationship = Buyer Loyalty.

Buyer loyalty is an emotional and behavioral commitment to keep using us. Buyer trust reflects the buyer’s belief that the salesperson will focus on the buyer’s interest and that the salesperson is reliable. There is a horizontal scale to represent the buyer/seller relationship.

On the left horizontal extreme, we have the product pusher who is focused on getting the highest price and then moving on to the next buyer. On the right horizontal extreme, we have the trusted advisor salesperson who is focused on mutual benefit and a continuing relationship with the buyer. Where do you currently sit on that scale?

Let’s drop the rhetoric, shall we. We all know brands that say one thing publicly, but internally, their messaging about how to treat the customer is entirely different. What is the real message you are getting from your bosses about how to think about the buyer? If we want a long career in sales, then we all need to be moving ourselves to the right on that scale. Now it may not be with the current employer, if you find they have the wrong mindset. We need to find a solution and a company that really serves the buyer. As professionals we will be very happy to work in that environment.

How do we build trust? There are Five Drivers of Trust:

1. Confident in our intention that we are creating win-win outcomes.
2. Competence that we can serve the buyer properly. It isn’t much help if our heart is the right place, but we are totally useless and unreliable as a salesperson.
3. Customer focused 100% of the time. The buyer needs to know we are trying to help them succeed and that we believe that inside their success lies our success.
4. Communication skills are vital. Each side needs to know what is supposed to be going on, what are the expectations and what are the commitments.
5. Providing massive value must be the salesperson’s mantra. If we can’t add value to the buyer, then we have no right to be in sales.

Trust is the most expensive thing a salesperson can lose. The cost of building trust with the client is much cheaper by comparison. Let’s never be like those bad egg salespeople who constantly mix this calculation up. We know the right path of the professional in sales and so let’s commit to treading that straight and narrow path every day.