266: Building Our Credibility Statement

<p>In sales, we definitely need a Credibility Statement.  Buyers are always worried about buying what they don’t need or paying too much for what they do buy.  The subterranean vibe is one of distrust toward salespeople.  So we have to work hard to overcome that fundamental doubt.  Salespeople without a solid sales process won’t have this valuable persuasion tool at their disposal.  In fact, they will be like lemmings leaping off a cliff, running headlong into the explanation of the features of their solution.  We need to create an atmosphere of trust, before we start asking questions to understand buyer needs.</p> <p> </p> <p>We may love our solution, we may know about it in-depth and we may know we are a great company, but the buyer doesn’t have a clue about any of this.  They are sceptical, uncertain, doubtful, cautious and basically afraid of being conned.  Early in the sales conversation, we need to put all of that to rest and set up for permission to ask questions.</p> <p> </p> <p>The Credibility Statement is needed when we make the first contact with the client and this may be in person, by email, phone call, Zoom call etc.  It is sometimes called our Elevator Pitch because it has to be concise, clear and attractive.</p> <p> </p> <p>How do you start when you introduce yourself?  What can you say about your company in one sentence, so that the buyer is very clear what you do?  Do you have a set formula for this to build trust with the client or are you winging it every time?  When you have a well thought through structure, it takes a lot of stress off the sales process.  How does this work in reality?</p> <p> </p> <p>In my case, I would say, “Hi my name is Greg Story.  I am the President of Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo.  We are global soft skills training experts and masters of delivery and sustainment.  Do you have a moment to talk”. </p> <p> </p> <p>This tells the client who I am and gives them some insight into the intention of the call by telling them what I do.  Next we need a strong hook to grab their