The Critical Role of Trust in Sales - and Marketing

Who is the most successful sales person? Is it the salesperson with:

• the best product knowledge?
• the best sales skills?
• the best customer knowledge?
• the best looking?
• the most likeable?

According to a couple of articles in the Gallup Management Journal (http://gmj.gallup.com/default.aspx - subscription required), by Benson Smith, co-author of Discover Your Sales Strengths, none of the above factors differentiate the most successful salespeople from the mediocre. This is not to say that the first three factors are not important. They are important. However, they do not differentiate the best from the rest.

“A company that Gallup has studied tested all of its sales employees on product knowledge at an annual sales meeting. Much to the company's surprise, its top performers didn't score any better on product knowledge exams than did the rest of the sales force. The company also had each of the representatives perform in role-playing scenarios only to find out that their best people didn't necessarily give the best presentations either. And many of their superior producers didn't follow the company's scripted sales presentations. Even more surprising, the best reps didn't necessarily know more about their customers than did the rest of the sales organization. If you objectively look at your own selling organization, you will likely draw the same conclusions.”

While factor #4, best looking, has been shown to impact pay levels and hiring decisions, Gallup research did not find top performers were any "better looking" than average performers. Other studies have shown similar results for likeability.

After researching over 250,000 sales reps, Gallup found that the talents most predictive of success in these sales roles had to do with motivation, an ability to build trust quickly, and a willingness to ask for commitments.

The subtle challenge of helping sales reps become more trustworthy is a fascinating topic, but beyond the scope of this post. However, I do want to explore the role marketing can play in helping a company’s sales reps be more worthy of trust.

To begin with, ensure that your marketing is honest and authentic. Know who you really are and what you’re all about as an organization and reflect that in your branding and all your marketing communications. Don’t put your sales reps in the awkward position of having to choose between representing a corporate identity that’s false and that even they don’t believe in; or representing the company in person in a manner that conflicts with the corporate message. This is a true lose/lose as either choice will damage your sales reps' credibility and integrity in the eyes of the customer, and in their own eyes.

The second thing marketing can do is to provide truly useful sales tools that help a sales rep substantiate your marketing claims and positioning. Whitepapers, independent research, and third party evaluations are all examples of this type of sales tools. Although they won’t in and of themselves make a sales person more “trustworthy” they can help a sales rep develop the inner confidence in their company and its message that they will sell with a greater sense of confidence and integrity. That inner confidence will shine through to the customer, making them more willing to place their trust in the sales rep that clearly believes in himself and his company.

If you’d like to explore how to give your sales force the support it needs to sell with confidence and integrity, please contact me at 416 948-2926 or rgaasenbeek@marketingleads.ca.