In today’s world of overselling, hype, and fraud at the highest levels of our society, nothing could be more important to a salesperson and business owner than building trust, admiration, and respect with prospects, customers, and associates.
Most of us are in a highly suspect business, to begin with. Network Marketing, to some people, does not spell value, honor, and integrity. Yet to us, it does. So how do we bridge the gap and shine some light on what we see in our chosen profession?
Here are 8 ways to bridge that gap
Trust
Trust is obviously not given automatically.
It must be earned. Too often, we take it for granted – either because we trust ourselves, trust others, or fail to recognize in the moment how others may see our offers of financial gain. Trust is earned through what we say and what we do. In these actions, we must become predictable and believable to others.
Predictability
Others must learn, based on what we say and do, that we are consistent.
For example, doing what we say we will do. Early in a relationship, this can be as simple as showing up or calling on time; or following through completely on getting an answer to a question. Later, as people feel they know who we are and what we stand for, they expect to see us act according to that identity. This is called having integrity, and it creates trust.
Believability
This means that people tend to believe what we say.
In this sense, it is sometimes not the best idea to tell the whole truth. Perhaps you truly do earn $20,000 a month part-time. Maybe it would continue to flow whether you worked it or not, making it worth $4 to $5 million. If who you are telling this truth to cannot fathom it, then you may be gaining in ego, but losing in trust. People need to be able to believe what you say–both in its content and, most importantly, how you say it. Sincerity can be faked. Authenticity cannot.
Authenticity
This is the real you.
All of you: the good, the bad, and the ugly. When you have the courage to show people not just all of your wonderfulness, but also glimpses of your humanity, then what they get is you. And even though you will not be perfect, people believe in the authenticity and humanity of others. Perhaps you do have an extraordinary income opportunity or product to sell, and perhaps you have failed to execute it yourself at times, or perhaps you sometimes feel your product is expensive. Give them the whole you and nothing but you. People trust that.
Admiration
As you might expect, a lot of admiration can be created by building trust.
So the path gets shorter after building trust. Obviously, people admire others for what they have accomplished. You may or may not have that going for you at the moment. Accomplishments take time. What you can do right now to be admired will depend on who you are to others. What we mean by this is what you contribute to the people who may admire you. Here, the greatest tool at your disposal is listening.
Listening
This is an extraordinary gift that can be practiced by all of us, all the time.
It is such a unique and extraordinary gift to others that when we give it, they can be blown away by its impact on them, yet not know exactly what we did to have such an impact. Listening at this level has little to do with understanding the content of what someone says, although their name is worth remembering the first time they say it. Listening here is about hearing the source of their comments – hearing the emotion behind their conversation and the intent behind what they are telling you. More than anything in the world, human beings want and need to be heard, known, accepted, and loved. When we are telling someone a story important to us, about us, or just our opinion about something, we very much need the listener to get it, to really understand what we are saying and why. This is often not found in the words being spoken, but rather in the energy of the speaker. A powerful listener will put their own desire and need to be heard, known, and accepted on hold while they are fully focused and accepting of who is speaking and what is being said. This level of what we call Therapeutic Listening does actually heal people, as it is perhaps the first time since true love that someone listened to them in this way.
Respect
Respect flows with gaining trust and admiration.
And the value of respect in this business is that people tend to follow those whom they respect. Trust alone is often not enough, nor is admiration. But with respect, people will often buy what you are selling and go where you are going. On top of trust and admiration, you can gain respect with two powerful tools. One is your character. Having character in the eyes of others means they are clear about what your highest values are and understand that you honor those values. This is to know someone. If you know someone well enough to know that family, integrity, fun, and leadership are the most important things to them – and you experience them living a life honoring those values – then they are seen as having character. Even people whose values we do not share have character. We may (if we embrace diversity) respect them but choose not to follow them.
Courage
Courage means to see danger and act anyway (assuming it is in your best interest)...
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Richard is the author of the best-selling books The Four Year Career & Mach2 With Your Hair On Fire.And, he is an Ontological coach and speaker.
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