Credibility and long term relationships – Two must-have ingredients of your sales strategy

In this article:

·                                 Demonstrate expertise in your market

·                                 Be honest

·                                 Be human

·                                 Take pride in your work

·                                 Address problems immediately

·                                 Customers are not friends

·                                 Provide a high level of customer service

·                                 Reward Loyalty

·                                 Relationships take time to build

·                                 Concentrate on customers that have already used your business

Credibility and establishing long term relationships are essential if you want success and longevity in your business. Let’s start by talking about credibility. The Collins English dictionary simply defines credibility as “the quality of being believed or trusted”. If people don’t believe you or trust you, they won’t buy your products. It is very difficult to have a business if your customers don’t believe that you are credible. However, if you’re not sure how to establish yourself as being credible, it can be a difficult task.

Here are some tips for establishing your credibility:

1.   Demonstrate expertise in your market

This is probably the best way of showing your customers that you are credible. Show your in-depth knowledge of the market. You could do this by telling your customers a couple of things that they didn’t know. For example, some of the most successful people will give away a couple of excellent strategies. If a person goes away and implements these strategies with great success, they will want to come back. When they come back, you offer them a product that they must purchase. Although some experts don’t like giving away free information, this can be a highly effective strategy for quickly establishing your credibility.

2.   Be honest

This is more important today than ever before. Information spreads rapidly through the internet and social media. People who lie quickly come unstuck when they get found out. There are many products on the internet that make ridiculous claims about the results you will get. Although people may buy these products initially, the owner will almost immediately lose credibility when people realise that their products do not live up to the claims. When your credibility goes, it is extremely difficult to get back.

3.   Be human

People love buying things from someone that they can relate to. In recent years many people have tried to establish themselves as the “guru” in a market. The problem with this strategy is that self-confessed “gurus” appear to be putting themselves on a pedestal, and people don’t like to buy from someone who thinks they are better than everyone else. It’s far better to be yourself and let others label you as an expert.

4.   Take pride in your work

Whether you are working with clients, releasing products or both, always take pride in your work and put a great deal of effort in. When people see that you really care about the content that put out, they will have much more faith in you.

5.   Address problems immediately

If you receive criticism, address it immediately in a professional manner. This will help you in three ways. Firstly, you will limit the future damage that could be done by not responding to the criticism. Secondly, it will show people that you strongly believe in what you do and what you teach. Thirdly, people will usually respect you more when you are proactive in addressing criticism, rather than taking the easy route and just ignoring it.

Tied in with credibility is establishing long-term relationships with your customers. Every day, millions of relationships between customers and businesses are broken. Relationships with customers are very fragile; they can take months to form and be broken in a second. That is why you have to take care of your customers to make sure you form lasting relationships.

Here are some tips for creating lasting relationships:

·         Customers are not friends

They don’t naturally have any loyalty to you. Remember, your customers can leave you for one of your competitors at any time. Don’t take the relationship for granted, as customers are rarely forgiving.

·         Provide a high level of customer service

This is one of the easiest ways to differentiate your business, but many businesses choose not to do it. If your customers feel that they are well looked after, they are very likely to buy from your business again. For example, if a regular customer complains about the food in a restaurant, the restaurant could let the customer have a meal for free. It is a small gesture, but could make the customer a customer for life. The cost of one meal will quickly be recovered if the customer keeps coming back. Most importantly, the costs of having a high level of customer service are usually minimal.

·         Reward Loyalty

If possible, create a loyalty scheme for your current customers. You could do this very simply by giving repeat customers a discount on their purchases. This gives them an incentive to keep buying from your business.

·         Relationships take time to build

Some things can never be rushed. Building long term relationships with customers is one of these. A customer won’t have faith and trust in you until you have proven that you deserve it. Someone who consistently receives a high level of service will really start to value your business.

·         Concentrate on customers that have already used your business

Some recent research has shown that it is seven times more expensive to acquire new customers than to sell to your existing ones. Most businesses sell products that people need on a regular basis. By keeping in touch with your existing customers and offering them exclusive offers and discounts, you are proactively encouraging them to purchase from you again. Just remember that it is a fine balance, don’t contact your current customers too often, or they will feel hassled. Many online businesses keep in touch with their customers through email databases.

A number of factors make or break long-term relationships. It really comes down to going the extra mile for your customer. Remember that successful long term relationships are formed over a long period of time, and it is several factors that will prove pivotal. Once a customer is happy that you consistently deliver an excellent service, a solid, long term relationship will begin to form. Credibility is essential because it makes you believable and trustworthy. It’s near impossible to create a long term relationship without trust or believability. Credibility and building long term relationships should be at the core of a strong sales strategy.