Actioning Know, Like, and Trust in your Business

People buy from people they know, like and trust.

This is one of those sayings that everyone knows and uses … and we all agree it's true ... but do you know how to apply it to your business? Just saying it isn't enough. In order to use this valuable tool, we have to action it. It has to be what your current and potential clients experience.

Building trust in your business goes far deeper and wider than understanding what people want and having some social proof. Trust is built over time and through consistent interactions that are clearly targeted to meet your client’s logical and emotional needs.

Understanding your business

When we work with clients on understanding and building client trust, we like to pair it back to Simon Sinek’s “The Why of Business”. In his TED TALK he uses three concentric circles that talk about business in this way:

•    The outer circle is WHAT you do.
•    The next circle is HOW you do it.
•    Centrally, and most importantly, is WHY you do it.

We then use these to both understand and know how to build trust for your business. To do this we work on all three areas, but first, we have to start with the key relationship equation.

People buy from people.

The act of trading or selling and buying is a very human one that has been around since … well forever. The first thing to focus on is that people buy from people, not from computer screens or emails or from websites. 
There are two parts to this … someone has a product, service, or skill that is valuable to someone else. The other person has a need or a problem that they want fixed.

Buying is an interaction of products, services, or skills between two parties, who need to know they need it and where and how to find it. These people have to meet, to share ideas of what they have and how it suits that need and then agree to trade.

• ACTION:  Think about the words and emotions your clients use when they describe your business?
• ACTION:  How do people describe their need or problem?

People buy from people they KNOW

Knowing is most often associated with the WHAT of your business. Think of this as a doorway … if someone is searching, they might look at the door of a shop and make an instant assessment whether to go into the shop to find the solution they are looking for.

There is a trend to make the description of what we do elegant or interesting… let me give you an example. An accountant might describe themselves as a wealth manager. The problem with this is that when we first encounter a person, clients want to be able to easily understand what you do. So, keep it simple and clear.

• ACTION:  How easy do you make it for people to KNOW what you do?
• ACTION:  How can you simplify it?

 

People buy from people they LIKE

Have you ever entered a shop and the assistant doesn’t even acknowledge you? How does that make you feel? It makes me feel like walking straight out again – and often that’s exactly what I do.

People like us because of HOW we do our business. How you treat them, how you make them feel, how you help them. It follows then that to ask someone to like you and your business, you have to be open about the HOW of your business.

Not everyone is going to like you and how you work. The important thing is to know your ideal clients and how they like to interact and then build your business and your processes around them. You can’t be everything to everyone, so knowing who you are serving allows you to build your HOW around them, and how they want to work with you is critical to your success.

• ACTION:  How do you get people to engage with you and get to know you?
• ACTION:  Get to deeply understand who your target client is and isn’t.
• ACTION:  Get to know how your target client wants to buy from you and focus your business practices around that.

People buy from people they TRUST

This element is the hardest, the deepest and the most powerful. What is it that makes you trust someone and choose to invest in their business over someone else? It starts with the WHAT and HOW of your business … but there is something deeper, something more important.

There is a magnetic force that draws people to you … it’s trust! People will trust you and be drawn to you when they understand and resonate with WHY you do what you do.
 
When you allow people to understand your motives and inspiration for your business, you allow them to build trust in you and your business. It is your WHY that draws people to you and allows you to inspire them to work with you and buy from you. 

In the end, transactions happen because your customers feel like they can understand and trust why you are doing this, how you do it, and finally what you do.

• ACTION:  Think about, what is it that gets you out of bed in the morning, what is it that drives and interests you about what you do?

• ACTION:  Practice how you describe this simply to people. You will know you have it right when you see the light in the other person’s eye.

People buy from people they know, like, and trust.

If you want to put this into action in your business then you have to start connecting with people. To allow them to easily know what you do, how you do it, and most powerfully, why.

People will buy from you when your why is persuasive, your how suits them, and you have what they need.

Now it's up to you to get out there and get into action!

Metisan has a program to help you uncover this insightful information and embed it in your business.

Call us today.