The Trust Factor
There are few people who will buy from someone they don’t trust or don’t feel they know enough. We have all acted on advice from a trusted friend or family member before. We have also acted on information given by a reputable company or government agency. People almost always buy from people they trust and for good reason. The value of trust simply cannot be underestimated.
This is a new generation and the same ole sales tactics drive people away. This generation is more skeptical and analytical about almost anything. They take more time to think about decisions and wait until they feel comfortable with the person or company selling the product or service.
This principal is so powerful that it causes people to delay or forgo a decision that is obviously and logically the best decision they could make concerning a variety of life matters including buying cheap home or car insurance. You could even say that if trust is not present in a relationship or transaction then people in general will be predictably irrational no matter how obviously good a decision may be.
Emotions always take priority over intellect. Trust is rooted in intellect but is a stronger emotion. Not to get too deep into psychology here but it does help to understand your target market. All emotions stem from thoughts. So if your prospects are not having the right thoughts when they look at your information then they will not trust you.
On a side note, I want to mention that this is not about manipulation. This is simply about understanding people and giving them what they already want.
Human nature can be fascinating and if understood, increase your conversion rates and profitability. Large companies spend millions of dollars a year in market research to understand their market better and refine their advertising. These large companies understand that behavioral economics play a huge role in profits.
Anyway, back to the trust factor. Trust should be the number one thing you establish in the beginning. Delaying the urge to directly pitch someone on your product, service, or business opportunity will pay large dividends. The problem with most business owners is they can’t resist the urge to sell a prospect on something before they have established this trust. The result is they end up scaring most of their potential customers off who would have otherwise bought something.
A little knowledge and patience can go a long way to make you more money here. Understanding how to establish trust will make you rich. The best salesmen in the World understand the need for trust. However, you’re going to be establishing trust without actively selling anything. Your visitors will learn to trust you and sell themselves. Ultimately, you will become a trusted friend whose advice to purchase something is always taken seriously.
I’ll speak more on how to actually establish this type of trust in tomorrow’s training.