The Social Proof Method Small Business Owners Should Use to Build Trust in Sales
We live in a world that is highly skeptical of direct sales approaches. Small businesses often struggle to stand out and gain the trust of potential customers. When you're working with customers to sell, you need to create the environment for them to be able to engage in the sales conversation. This article is going to break down the power of referral partners and social proof to build trust in sales and inevitably increase sales conversion.
Table of contents:
Build Trust with Your Sales Prospects
Gain Social Proof Through Trusted Referral Partners
Manage Your Key Relationships
Examples of Key Relationships
Leverage Your Social Proof
Build Trust with Your Sales Prospects
You have a much better shot at having productive conversations at the top of your sales funnel if the client is already warmed up to your expertise and what you have to offer. In sales, it's crucial to focus on "big talk” - the conversations that matter. However, the only way you get permission to have “big talk” is by:
Meeting someone at a point of distress where they are open to just about anything, OR
They were already warmed up to you and your content beforehand.
This second approach is especially important in solution sales. Encountering your content through trusted sources is the best way to achieve this, add credibility, and increase sales conversions.
Gain Social Proof Through Trusted Referral Partners
To compete with increased skepticism, you need your prospects to come across third party social proof. That means, you need to ensure that the trusted advisors they have are the ones referring to you.
It's really important to understand your “one-to-many'' markets, their networks, and the key players inside them. With the right connections in these markets, you’ll gain a consistent referral source from one-to-many players. That is, the people who interact a lot with your potential clients. This social proof technique will enhance your credibility and increase brand awareness for your small business.
As an example, if you’re an accountant who caters to small business clients, who else contends with small businesses that could sing your praises? Who should you have a meeting with?
When it comes to creating awareness for people, they really need to hear things multiple times. So, how are you showing up in different ways with your experience and expertise that, when combined with repetition from multiple different angles, creates validity?
Manage Your Key Relationships
The best professionals manage their one-to-many referral sources intentionally and authentically to achieve this. If you think about any business, there's a group of people that you really win with. And that same group hangs out in different areas and purchases other services. So, what are those?
And if you are a medical professional like a physiotherapist or massage therapist, you should not assume that this process doesn't apply to you. If you examine your client base, I bet you will see that new patient visits often come from a couple of core areas, whether these are doctors, colleagues in other specialties, or gym owners. Authentically managing your KR list is the best way to build brand awareness for your small business and attract new customers.
Examples of Key Relationships
The types of key relationships vary depending on your business and niche. For example, physiotherapists in the healthy aging quadrant should identify whether they focus on healthier prevention or rehabilitation. It’s really about identifying your ideal client profile. The more articulate you are about it, the easier it is to identify your one-to-many relationships.
Once you have this identified, you can figure out where they congregate and how to be relevant in those spaces. For example, you could connect with a series of doctors, walk-in clinics, and colleagues in other specialties that don’t service your specific cohort. What activities do your ICPs take part in? Where do they spend their time? Once you find the congregations, you can then start to figure out how to become meaningful in that community.
Leverage Your Social Proof
Social proof can be showcased in various ways, depending on your industry. For instance, conferences, awards, and case studies can all be powerful tools. People can't be experts in everything, so they rely on recognized indicators like awards to validate potential partners. If you’re winning top CEO awards, best place to work awards, best new business awards, or industry awards for whatever vertical you are in, it reinforces that you are a recognized expert.
In addition to awards, I always arm my KRs with case studies. When my KR’s refer people to me, I loop back with them on how they’re doing. So, not only did they send someone out, but they got the story on the other side of how well they did. This world is ruled by stories, not statistics. Naturally, they’ve got these clear mental models that are searching for confirmation that they should in fact engage. And if you can create that and you can arm your KR’s with it, you can continue the good relationships with them that make sure that when they come across this problem, they’re consistently thinking about you.
Conclusion
Mastering the art of building trust and leveraging referral partners can be a game-changer for any business seeking to expand its customer base. Cultivating authentic connections, providing consistent social proof, and nurturing key relationships with intention are vital components of a successful referral-based sales strategy. Leveraging social proof and referral networks can greatly enhance your ability to build trust in sales and significantly increase sales conversion rates. Implementing these strategies will not only help you attract new customers but ultimately increase brand awareness for your small business.