If to give a precise definition to the term “trust”, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as the assured reliance on one’s abilities, strengths, or the truth of something or someone (“Trust”). Trust in sales is associated with buyers’ willingness to depend on sellers, listen to their recommendations, give them access to selling products or services, and spend time with them. What is noteworthy about trust in sales, it was relevant fifty years ago when the sales tactics were completely different from what they are now; however, trust is as important today. Sellers usually build trust on the basis of three key factors such as integrity, competency, and intimacy.
According to Columbus from Forbes, trust is emerging “as the most powerful catalyst of selling effectiveness” (par. 1). Trust has shown to be effective in reducing the turnover of the salesforce, increasing the integration of internal systems and processes, thus subsequently increasing sales through establishing trusting relationships with customers. Therefore, companies are trying to look for salespeople, suppliers, partners, and vendors that they can trust in order to transfer the trust onto potential buyers. As to the ways of earning customers’ trust, businesses implement a variety of strategies. However, if to speak about how salespeople usually earn trust, the most crucial component is developing a low level of self-orientation (“Sales Education – How to Build Customer Trust”) through focusing specifically on the customer and his or her needs and demands. This means that sellers have to do everything they can to cater to the interests of their clients, which, subsequently, will be beneficial to the interests of the seller.
Knowledge bases are instrumental for building trust and relationships because the more a salesperson knows, the less complicated it is to attain buyers’ confidence. Knowledge is essential when building trust because buyers tend to have specific expectations of what the salesperson should do and what value they must bring. In this case, the notion of ethics comes into play. Ethics in sales and business relationships in general pertain to not taking advantage of the organization or customers, to which a salesperson is trying to sell.
For example, in the case of Kelly Meyers, she did take advantage of the situation and saw the summary sheet of bids, which led her to winning the bid with the lowest offering compared to her competitors. This example shows and ethical dilemma; if Kelly was to follow the rules of business ethics, she would not have glanced over the list of bidders to determine whether her bid could win. On the other hand, the purchasing agent, Janet Williams, could have intended Kelly to see the list because they have built a trusting relationship, and such and accidental information spill could have not been accidental. However, it is in everyone’s interests to avoid such situations due to risks of being discovered by a third party.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a tool that allows companies and their sellers to understand who their current and potential customers are for nurturing the relationships and building trust. CRM is an important tacting in the modern competitive selling world because it gives knowledge about the needs and behaviors of buyers (Newbury), allowing businesses to subsequently react and adapt to them for making a successful business deal. CRM can comprise of any tactics that may serve the goals of the company; however, the most prominent are targeted CRM, use of communication channels, improved experiences, cost effectiveness, focus on new customers, and focusing the business in a specific directiom.
Works Cited
Columbus, Louis. “Why Trust Is Emerging as the Most Powerful Catalyst of Selling Effectiveness.” Forbes, 2013. Web.
Newbury, Emma. “The Importance of Customer Relationship Management Within a Business.” Digital Doughnut. 2016. Web.
“Sales Education – How to Build Customer Trust.” YouTube, uploaded by Tom Traylor. 2012. Web.
“Trust.” Merriam-Webster. 2017. Web.