BY Rachel Cagle
If you don’t have credibility, you don’t have anything. That’s why establishing your authority in your field of sales and trust with your prospect is so crucial in the sales profession. Unfortunately, this is also an area that many sales reps struggle in. Our research shows that no profession scores lower on the credibility scale than sales. If you need a few pointers to help establish your credibility with prospects, look no further.
Establish Your Credibility Using These Tips
Utilize Reviews and Current Client Stories
Many consumers have learned the hard way that you can’t trust everything salespeople say about their products. Sales professionals have a bad reputation for saying whatever they need to in order to sell their products or services. That doesn’t help you much when trying to establish your credibility. And neither does tooting your own horn. You can talk yourself up as the best salesperson in your company or industry, but at the end of the day, the prospect doesn’t care about you. All that matters is that you can help them with their problems or needs, says Rebecca Riserbato, writing for HubSpot.
What better way to prove that than with real-life examples? Out of all your current clients, there are bound to be at least one or two that were in similar situations to the one your prospect is in now. Use their success stories as an example of how you can help the prospect. Getting a recommendation straight from the horse’s mouth won’t hurt when trying to establish your credibility either. Take those 5‑star reviews from your clients and incorporate them into your slide show or another aspect of your presentation. Proof of previous success will help clients trust you with their business as well.
Update Your LinkedIn and Other Professional Profiles
Nowadays, prospects will do just about as much research on you as you will on them. They want to gauge your sales credibility and see if you’re someone they can trust and see themselves working with. Post your current client reviews and success stories on LinkedIn. And make sure the wording in your posts and summary reflects how you actually speak during your sales meetings. If you write in a formal manner on your LinkedIn profile and then show up to the sales meeting using slang and speaking informally overall, you’re going to throw off your prospect. Establish your credibility and persona online and keep it consistent with real life.
Understand Every Prospect’s Role
Chances are, you won’t just be communicating with a single prospect during your sales meetings. Especially now that the pandemic has so many companies watching every penny they spend, there will be several decision-makers gauging your credibility. That means knowing what each person’s role is in the sales process. What is it that each persona cares about most? What will their relationship with you be going forward? Once you know the answers to those questions, you can tailor individual messages in your sales pitch for each of them. Get each person involved personally, and they’ll be less likely to turn you down.