TCFBO #005: Capitalising on Trust

Read Time: 4 minutes

When you’re launching a new product or service it’s always easier to sell to your existing customer base than it is to sell to new customers.

Why is this?

Quite simply, it’s down to the “know, like and trust” factor.

It’s why Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies will tell their new recruits to sell to the “low hanging fruit”, also known as your family and friends.

The problem with selling to your family and friends is that, although they know, like and trust you, they may not want what you are selling and if you keep pushing them to buy you may find they stop liking you!

Whereas your existing customers already know you, they already like you or the product they bought from you, they already trust you as you’ve delivered on your promises before, and (unlike your family and friends) they have demonstrated that they want what you sell.

So how do you build the know, like and trust factor as quickly as possible with potential new customers?

Well, it’s time to think outside the box.

Actually, it’s time to think inside the circle, the circle of trust.

Imagine yourself at the centre point of several concentric circles.

Who’s the closest person to you? The one who knows your deepest, darkest secrets? The one you can call any time of day or night?

They are in the first, innermost circle.

It could be a partner, a friend or a family member. But the chances are you’ll probably only have one or two in that first circle.

Now think about other people you are close to.

They’re in the next circle.

Then you’ll have a bunch of extended friends and family in the next circle.

Then people who are acquaintances rather than friends in the next circle.

And finally, outside all of your circles is the rest of the world.

Of course, you can add extra circles to segment the groups more finely, but you get the idea.

The closer someone is to the centre circle, the more trust there is between the two of you.

Now, let’s say you wanted to meet with someone who’s in the “rest of the world” category.

You could, of course, attempt to contact them directly. But it’s far easier to ask the people closest to you if they know the person and if they could introduce you.

Because when someone who already knows, likes and trusts you connects you to someone else, they transfer the trust they have for you to that new connection and are able to get you past the gatekeepers and other hurdles that prevent you reaching the person you want to meet.

However, one mistake we see business owners make when using this to connect with new clients is to ask those in their circle of trust a question like:

“Do you know anyone who’s looking for my product or service?”

The problem with asking this type of question is that the person you are asking probably has no idea whether any of their friends are or aren’t looking for your particular product or service.

We’ve found it’s better to focus the question on attributes that can be easily identified by the person you’re asking.

For example, we worked with a client who was providing a service to schools throughout the UK. In order to bring his work more in alignment with the vision he had for his life, he wanted to work with schools closer to home but only had a couple of contacts in his local area.

So instead of asking his existing contacts:

“Do you know a school who’s looking for the service I provide?”

we got him to ask:

“Do you know one or two teachers in the East of England that you’d be happy to introduce me to?”

This enabled the people in his circle of trust to quickly identify a couple of people in their own circles of trust that he could connect with.

Another mistake we see is that when the initial connection is made, the business owner goes straight into sales pitch mode.

Remember, the person you’ve been connected to may not be the person who wants your product or service but they may be the link to the person who does.

All you are looking to do is connect, find out whether you can help them (maybe with your product or service, maybe in some other way, such as an introduction to someone you may know) and transfer that trust from one connection to the other.

We use this transfer of trust concept to connect with people all the time.

We’ve used it to connect with new clients.

We’ve used it to connect with sponsors, speakers and attendees from across the world for events we’ve held.

We’ve used it to connect with contractors.

That isn’t to say the introductions have all been direct. Many were an introduction to one person who then introduced us to another and then they introduced us to another.

But the trust was transferred from one connection to the next to the next. It didn’t diminish as the connections got further away from the friend who made that first connection for us.

You can also apply the transfer of trust concept specifically to your existing customer base.

To do so, start off by segmenting your customers into the different circles.

Sure, the customers in the circle closest to you probably don’t have the same relationship with you as your closest friend, but there will be customers you can identify who think you or your products are fantastic and have a closer relationship with you than other customers.

Keep adding in customers or groups of customers to the circles moving outwards. For example, if you have a community of customers that you interact with frequently, they are probably closer to you than those who are simply on a mailing list.

By doing this you can avoid focusing all your marketing and lead generation efforts at the hardest part of the circle…the “rest of the world” (i.e. people who have never heard of you).

Instead, focus some of your efforts on the customers or groups of customers closest to you.

What can you do to engage with them to build up the know, like and trust factor even more?

What can you do to encourage them to share your marketing with a friend?

What can you offer in exchange for an introduction?

That transfer of trust can make the sale to new customers a lot easier than simply going in cold.

Let us know how you get on and we’ll see you next week.

Paul & Philly

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