08 December 2009 | Miller Heiman

If you could only ask one question of your sales team this week to move sales forward, ask this:

If you don’t have credibility, what will you do to establish it?

Much like a solid foundation is absolutely necessary for a  structurally-sound building, solid credibility is imperative for successful selling. Without credibility, winning business becomes undeniably harder. But this key element isn’t just handed over on a silver platter, it’s most often earned through one of four methods:

• By relating your customer’s challenge (in which case you must be sure you truly understand the customer’s concept) to a past organizational success that addressed the same issue.
• By bringing in someone with expertise in an area your client would appreciate. This highlights your position as a valuable resource who can add knowledge and insight to your prospect’s business.
• By scheduling meetings between professionals in the buying and selling organization that are of like rank. This is one way to demonstrate your company’s commitment to your prospect’s success.
• By affirming established credibility: present recent results with clients at an executive briefing; suggest future projects that can help their company achieve additional goals.

You can read more about building credibility here.

Do you have additional techniques that help you build credibility? Share them with us.

photo credit: jon gala