The lie starts as a way to avoid causing disappointment, not as an act of malice.
“Why did you not attend school today?” the Blue Fairy asks a small wooden boy.
He makes up a silly story — harmless but clearly false. Then in a blur, the boy jerks his head backwards as his nose extends like a dowel, his eyes crossing in shock.
“A lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face,” the Blue Fairy warns.
This statement rings as true for salespeople today as it has for children since Disney released the motion picture Pinocchio in 1940.
Much like with a cartoon puppet’s nose, each fib a salesperson utters widens the gap between buyer and seller. In fact, even if your salespeople lead with honesty, those few salespeople who do not have instilled doubt and suspicion in buyers all-around.
Sellers must establish and reinforce trust in every conversation of every sales cycle. This does not have to be a desperate approach to conversations, and nor should your salespeople force relationships with buyers — but rather you must lead a shift in your sales teams from self-focused selling to buyer-centric service.
A TRUST GAP
In 2021, LinkedIn surveyed 800 B2B buyers and sellers and uncovered the state of trust. 58% of buyers ranked “trustworthy” as one of the most important traits a salesperson could possess. Second was “transparency,” at 37%. 89% of buyers described the sellers they ultimately choose to do business with as “trusted advisors.”
Sellers believe they are trustworthy too. In that same survey, 65% said they always put their buyer first. And in a TrustRadius survey, 85% of B2B sellers say they are open and honest about their solution during the sales process.
Yet, no matter how honest some sellers are — those who are not have corrupted the pool for everyone and, thus, buyers put up their guards. B2B sellers say “We are putting you first,” but only 23% of buyers believe it. B2B sellers swear “We are telling our solution as it is,” yet only 36% of buyers believe it.
Buyer-seller relationships start and grow from trust, and trust comes down a relationship grounded in honesty. Yet even if your salespeople are honest, as we have established, your buyers might be apprehensive to trust them, be that from a past experience where they have been burned or from a stereotype they hold about salespeople. How can your salespeople get your buyer to believe them then?
THE GAME-CHANGING APPROACH OF TRUSTED ADVISORS
Gaining buyer trust takes extra value selling considerations and a, what we call at Mereo, Seek to Serve, Not to Sell® approach.
Leave behind the marketing speak. Authenticity, clarity and value resonate with buyers much more than clever, over-branded turns of phrase. Enable your salespeople with the right tools and skills to have meaningful value-oriented conversations with buyers. A good place to start is by crafting a powerful value proposition worksheet.
Put your solution in your buyer’s hands. Buyers do not want to just hear about all the value your solution will bring — they want to experience it directly to see how it will fit their specific needs. Explore how demonstrations and trial runs can fit into your sales process as a way to prove you understand their situation (their challenges and pain) and have a solution (a “pain killer”) as a remedy.
Connect your buyers with your current customers. Buyers want authentic insights. But no matter how hard your salespeople try to share these, sellers will always maintain a bit of skepticism. It is your solution, your organization after all. So do not just have your sellers talk to the prospective buyer. Build a network of current customers who are succeeding with your solution and advocating for embracing the need for change as well as the need for changing with your solution — and then connect them to your buyer for honest, insightful conversations.
Tell the whole story of your solution, not just the good stuff. Sellers tend to spout only the good of a solution. Here are all the benefits and outcomes you can expect. Here are all the super awesome mega amazing things we can sell you! Yet pothing is nerfict. (See what I did there?) And your buyer knows that. Do not have your sellers disparage your solution. Rather, provide an honest assessment of your solution’s limitations and constraints. Likely, if you do connect the buyer with any of your current customers, they will hear it anyway. And it will be all the more powerful if it came first from your sellers.
A WIN-WIN OUTCOME
Truth be told, buyers have a right to be skeptical: News stories abound of fraudulent businesses and solutions from “luxury” music festivals to “revolutionized” blood testing technology. On the outside these looked legitimate and real, until they are revealed as not.
When you salespeople engage buyers with authenticity and with the commitment of a trusted advisor to truly solve the buyer’s problem with the best solution, not just your solution, they can overcome this skepticism and start building the greatest business currency — trust. This trust will translate not only into deals for your organization but true value for the buyers you serve.
LEARN TO SERVE YOUR BUYERS
Lead your salespeople to Seek to Serve™ for sustainable revenue performance. Visit us on Mereo to get the complete organization guide to this approach.