News Articles » – BUILDING CREDIBILITY

SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

BUILDING CREDIBILITY IS FIRST STEP TO SELLING PRODUCTS, SERVICES

.By: Patty Allen-Jones

Sell the benefits! Be a problem solver! Tell your prospective customers how to avoid a loss! Don’t forget to ask for the order!

Every experienced salesperson knows these basic rules of deal making. They also understand that sales are made under an umbrella of trust and credibility. In fact, many sales are lost because the salesperson fails to devote enough time to establishing credibility – the first step of selling any product or service.

Rena Greenberg is acutely aware of how important credibility is because the technique she uses to help her clients lose weight or quit smoking is often thought to be theatrical gamesmanship.

Greenberg is a professional hypnotist and founder and chief executive of Bradenton-based Wellness Seminars, Inc.

“I conduct smoking cessation and weight control seminars in over 75 hospitals throughout Florida and Michigan ,” she said.

More importantly for you to know, the methods she employs to establish credibility can be used by you to make more sales, regardless of your product or service.

Greenberg uses three proven techniques:

Displaying testimonial statements from happy clients in her advertising and on her website, http://www.easywillpower.com/

She authored a book, “The Right Weigh: Six Steps to Permanent Weight Loss.”

She presents seminars to explain the procedure and respond to questions.

“The testimonials from successful participants of my program give other people confidence to try the wellness seminar for weight control,” she says. “It builds trust in a world where there are so many options to choose from.”

The best time to ask for testimonial letters is immediately after the sale. Be sure to tell your customer why you want it and how you plan to use it. Customer service questionnaires can also harvest usable sound bites.

“I think the book gives me credibility,” Greenberg says. That’s because writers are considered authorities in their area of expertise. “It also helps people to gain an understanding about what makes my approach to weight loss so unique.”

Meanwhile, the seminar technique is another opportunity to appear as an expert in your field. Greenberg presents the first half without charge. She’s careful to dispel any misgivings that attendees may have.

“I have always strived to deliver my message to people with compassion,” Greenberg says.

The attendees who choose to stay for the second half pay a fee and take part in group-hypnosis to lose weight.

Each industry is different and you may not have the skills or time to write a book. But you can get testimonial letters.

“A satisfied customer willing to give testimony is far more valuable than anything you could say to sell a prospective customer yourself,” Greenberg says.

Additionally, conducting a workshop or seminar is a learned skill.

It’s a way to explain your product or service to several prospects at the same time. Toastmasters International ( http://www.toastmasters.org/) is one of several organizations that can teach you platform skills and get the butterflies in your stomach flying in the same direction.

Greenberg says that a seminar to give your prospects “a basic understanding of how an unfamiliar technique or product works is often essential to gain credibility.”