Around three months ago, our sales class was graced with the presence of Grove City football coach, Andrew DiDonato. It was quickly evident that coach Andrew possessed a high level of sales knowledge, as well as a strong passion for sales. Coach Andrew is a prime example of how even those who may not be in a traditional sales role still perform some level of sales on a day to day basis.
Coach DiDonato had a few interesting points, but one of them, however, resonated with me especially. He made the argument that the most crucial attribute for a salesman to have is trust.
Without a sense of trust between a salesman and a customer, the relationship will never reap what you want it to. Coach went on to discuss the two ingredients that are required in order to form this kind of trust in your relationship, ability and intent.
The ability portion looks at whether or not the customer believes that you, as the salesperson have the ability to supply them with what they need. While this may seem rather self- evident, the importance of it is great. We need not just show the customer our product, but rather how our product is able to actually fulfill the needs of the customer. The intent portion of the recipe for trust can be a little trickier.
Intent aims to show the customer that your reasons for making the sale are coming with good intentions. Instead of making a sale solely to put money in your companies pocket, you should be working to solve your customer’s problems. If the customer sees that the intent is focused on themselves and not on the salesman, they are much more likely to be interested.
Nobody likes the stereotypical pushy salesman, following the points that Coach DiDonato laid out for us can not only improve your chances of closing a sale, but possibly, over time, reduce the stigma around salesmen in general.
BoweryJE22
I really enjoyed Coach’s talk as well. I believe that his most important point was trust built between a sales person and their client. You absolutely must have the ability to do what you tell your client. If you cannot do follow through with your promises, then there will be no trust. Sales people must also have good intentions for their clients or the trust will again be lost.
Coach Dido’s talk was really impressive. That was my first time hearing him speak to a class and by the end he earned my trust. His demeanor and how he conducted himself showed how he can so easily connect with someone. I think Coach Dido’s process is definitely one to emulate and would make the process of earning someone’s trust a lot easier.