A Revolutionary Marketing Strategy ...Trust Me

Trust-Based Marketing and Its Benefits

Trust-based marketing builds trust with a somewhat unusual strategy. A key part of this strategy involves providing valuable education and information to your prospects up front, so that they perceive you as an expert. You don’t sell to them, or make pitches. Instead, you provide insights about their problems, what those problems cost, and how they can solve them -- all within the area of your expertise. The more those prospects realize that you can help them, the more likely they are to call you as soon as they have a need.

Marketing based on the development of trust creates entirely new opportunities for getting your prospects’ attention and interest. Once you learn how to build trust, you can stop using traditional business development techniques, and everything will change for you:

• Prospects call you first when they have a problem. You can stop chasing them.
• You win more business sole source, before the prospect sends it out for bid. That’s because prospects perceive you to be an expert, and call you when they have a need.
• Your entire marketing program has a single point of focus: develop trust. Therefore, you can measure your marketing investment based on how well you achieve this goal, and continuously improve.
• Many of the tactics you use to build trust happen automatically, allowing you to spend time on other things.
• You can charge higher fees, and stop competing on price.
• You can stop selling, and start having open and honest conversations with your prospects.
• People refer business to you even if they have never hired you, because they perceive you to be an expert and appreciate your valuable information and knowledge.
• You feel good about marketing your services.

The Principles of Trust-Based Marketing

If you want to market your Web services on the basis of trust, it’s important to incorporate a few fundamental principles into everything you do. The following seven principles underpin the development of trust:

1. The more value you provide, the more trust you build. Most marketing and sales efforts focus on pushing your services and capabilities. This doesn’t build trust; in fact, it turns the prospect off. Who wants to waste time reading or listening to “just another pitch”? Instead, you can build trust by providing value. In trust-based marketing, value takes the form of free, or low-cost, educational products and services -- articles, speeches, newsletters, audio CDs, etc. Each of these products helps your prospects to understand their critical problems (within your range of expertise), and start to develop solutions.

2. Trust increases gradually. It takes five or more interactions with a prospect before they trust an IT professional enough to even consider hiring that person. Building trust is like taking a series of baby steps. It happens over time, as you provide a series of high-value interactions that benefit the prospect.

3. Trust is based on “pull,” not “push.” You build trust when you give prospects the opportunity to choose whether or not to take advantage of the information and insights you can offer. Instead of pushing your services onto them, let your prospects choose to take advantage of your free education and information. That way, you will have plenty of prospects who have given you permission to stay in touch with them (in ways that are valuable for them). When they have a problem, they’ll contact you first, because they know you and perceive you to be an expert. Often, they will hire you without sending their project out for bid, and you can charge higher fees.

4. Trust is fragile. Prospects are naturally and understandably wary. If you move too quickly, or push too hard to close a deal, you will turn your prospects off.

5. Some interactions build more trust than others -- and most cost almost nothing. Your newsletter, public speaking, articles, and testimonials can all build an enormous amount of trust. None of these cost much to implement. Newsletters and articles establish your expertise, and provide value to your prospects. Public speaking lets prospects see you in person, and makes them feel as if they know you. Testimonials provide “social proof” that others perceive you to be an expert. Here are some interesting statistics: When I speak in public to my target audience, 10% of the participants approach me to talk about a project. Also, the people who have seen me speak are 100% more responsive to my offers for information products than people who have heard about me from other sources (except referrals). Likewise, one well-placed article drives as much traffic to my Website as does $1,000 invested in a Google or Overture campaign.

6. Authenticity and empathy build trust. By being open and honest with your prospects, and empathizing with their problems, you build trust. Prospects want to work with professionals who can step in their shoes and who understand the results they are trying to achieve. They also appreciate people who can serve as their trusted advisor, giving open and honest advice about how to move forward.

7. The economics of trust are incredibly powerful. It doesn’t take long to develop a group of prospects that know you and perceive you to be an expert in your field. Once you do, they will refer you to other people -- even if they don’t hire you. Within six months to a year, you can establish yourself as a recognized expert and thought leader in your market. You will have all the clients you want.