Build Business on Trust

This article was written by Barry Farber of Entrepreneur.com

If building relationships is the key to sales success, then trust is the foundation. Ask any top sales performer what factors contribute to their success, and you'll hear that building trust is vital in their dealings with customers. But how do you build trust? Usually, it's the little things you do over time that make the difference. I call this establishing the T.R.U.S.T. factor.

The following five strategies will help you form strong relationships and long-term success with not just your customers, but also everyone you surround yourself with.

1. Truth: We can do many things to lose business -- not deliver on time, not communicate effectively, not follow up. But from your customers' point of view, lying is the No. 1 way to lose their trust and business forever. I've been in many situations where I know that the answer I give the customer will jeopardize the sale, but I've found that sometimes you lose the battle and end up winning the war.

In the long run, you've built your relationships around being bone-honest -- which also happens to be one of the top traits that high achievers throughout history have had in common.

2. Reliability: Here's where the T.R.U.S.T. factor starts getting built. Every time you get back to the customer with the information he's requested, you're building trust. Every time you follow up after the customer receives your service or product, you're building trust. And every time you respond to a problem immediately and solve it right away (or at least make sure the customer knows you're on top of it), you're building trust.

No miracles necessary -- it's just about being there for the customer before, during and after the sale.

3. Understanding through uncommon efforts: When you invest the time to understand your customers' needs, business situation, competition and so on, you are building the T.R.U.S.T. factor by making the effort to see the world through their eyes.

Asking questions that show an interest in their day-to-day business challenges is one way of doing this. When I customize a seminar for a specific client, I find it always pays off to interview some of the top achievers on their sales team, speak to their customers about why they buy, or even sit in on a vice president's presentation to listen to his or her goals and objectives.

All this research helps me walk in the customer's shoes and speak his or her language. Understanding not only builds trust, but also gives you the confidence and tools to provide the right solution.