2. Key Thoughts
Trust is crucial to developing successful relationships with customers.
Build trust by being competent, compatible, candid, customer-oriented, and dependable.
You must have the initiative and motivation to learn about your company, your customers, and the markets in which you and they compete.
Professional salespeople, by definition, must be ethical or they are not professional.

3. Q. 1. What is Trust?

4. What is Trust?

5. Why is Trust Important?
A fundamental competitive strategy of a growing number of organizations is to build long-term mutually beneficial relationships with their customers. The ability of those organizations’ salespeople to earn their customers’ trust is essential to the success of that strategy.

6. Q. 2. How does a salesperson earn trust?

7. How to Earn Trust Trust Expertise Customer Orientation Dependability
Candor
Compatibility

8. Expertise
The ability, knowledge, and resources to meet customer expectations.
Expertise must translate into observable results and contribution for the buyer.

9. Predictability of a person’s actions.
Dependability
Predictability of a person’s actions.
The salesperson must also demonstrate an ability to handle confidential information.

10. Candor
Honesty of the spoken word. It means being upfront with others, especially with regard to issues/factors that may impact those others.
It takes only one misleading event to lose all credibility.

11. Customer Orientation
The act of salespeople placing as much emphasis on the customer’s interests as their own.
Salespeople with a customer orientation advise rather than “sell”.

12. Compatibility A salesperson’s commonalities with other individuals.
Customers generally like to deal with salespeople whom they can feel a bond.

13. Readiness to Earn Trust

14. Knowledge Bases Help Build Trust and Relationships
Training
Companies provide extensive training to prepare salespeople for the field.

15. Training Enhancing Customer Relationships
Industry History
Company History and Policies
Enhancing Customer Relationships
Developing Customer Relationships
Initiating Customer Relationships
Selling Techniques
Product, Price, Channels, Promotions
Market
Competitive Knowledge

16. Q. 3. What are the knowledge bases that help build trust and relationships?

17. Industry Knowledge
Knowledge Need: the dynamics, structure, culture, and forces that affect the industry or industries in which they work.
Benefit: ability to 1) develop and execute effective selling strategies, and 2) be viewed as a market information resource.

18. Company Knowledge
Knowledge Need: understand their company’s culture, mission, goals, policies, and procedures.
Benefit: ability to effectively and accurately represent the company when interacting (e.g., negotiating) with its prospective and current customers.

19. Product Knowledge
Knowledge Need: a thorough understanding of their product offerings and the various sources of value they provide
Benefit: be perceived (by the customer) as experts and capable of accurately matching solutions to the needs of the customer

20. Service Knowledge
Knowledge Need: understand their company’s service capabilities, including limitations, fees, time-frames, and the value they add
Benefit: ability to match their company’s service capabilities to the needs of their customers

21. Service Knowledge Areas

22. Promotion and Price Knowledge
Knowledge Need: understand the details of, and how to manage, promotional programs and the pricing policies of their products
Benefit: ability to 1) facilitate their customers’ participation in promotional programs and 2) effectively negotiate terms

23. Market and Customer Knowledge
Knowledge Needs: understand the markets they serve and their customers, including needs, personalities, and communication styles.
Benefit: ability to 1) develop and implement effective selling strategies, and 2) clearly communicate relevant solutions.

24. Competitor Knowledge
Knowledge Need: their competitors and respective market offers and how they are perceived in the market.
Benefit: to position their products against those of their competitors’.

25. Technology Knowledge
Knowledge Need: understand how utilize sales technology hardware and software (e.g., internet, CRM, laptops, smart phones)
Benefit: to leverage technology to me more competitive work smarter not harder

26. Technology in the Sales Effort

27. Q. 4. What is Ethics?

28. Ethics
Ethics refers to right and wrong conduct of individuals and institutions of which they are a part.

29. Ethics
Ethics refers to right and wrong conduct of individuals and institutions of which they are a part.
Clearly Wrong
Clearly Right
Ethical Decisions
Ethical Dilemma

30. What is Ethics?
“…that behavior which is the ‘right’ thing to do, given the circumstances”
Four principles:
Honesty
Integrity
Fairness
Concern for others

31. Image of Salespeople

32. Unethical Behavior

33. Advice for Salespeople

34. Q. 5. What are the three most important unethical practices that bring about a negative image of salespeople?

35. Categories of Unethical Behavior

36. Non-Customer-Oriented Behavior

37. Methods for Ethical Decision Making
Teleology – morality of decision based on the consequence (Consequentialism)
Egoism (self-interest)
Utilitarianism (greatest good for greatest number)
Deontology – morality of decision based on intentions (Categorical Imperatives)
Relativism – morality of decision based on individual and past experience
Absolutes – morality is the same for everyone

38. Q. 6. How must companies deal with sales ethics?

39. Dealing with Sales Ethics
Training
Specific guidelines in all areas
Method for reporting unethical behavior
Must be aware of all international laws

40. Q. 7. What are the five common ethical traps?

41. Five Common Ethical Traps
The False Necessity trap
The Doctrine-of-relative-filth trap
The Rationalization trap
The Self-deception trap
The Ends-justify-the-means trap

42. Q. 8. What are the tools for doing the right thing?

43. Doing the right thing! Is the action you are considering legal?
How would you see the problem if you were on the opposite side?
What are alternate solutions?
Can you discuss the problem with someone whose advice you can trust?
How would you feel if your family, friends, employer, or coworkers learned of your actions?