Trust-Based Selling: Finding and Keeping Customers for Life

The first year of developing a new sales territory or establishing new customers is a daunting task—especially in dog-eat-dog industries. The traditional advice is to train quickly on products, grab a customer list, start calling for appointments, discover opportunities, and close deals. In fact, almost every sales model out there is based on nothing more than "opportunity" management. But jumping straight to opportunity will leave salespeople chasing their tails and coming up short on payday.

With an emphasis on basic sales skills that have been refreshed for today's generation of buyers, Trust-Based Selling shows there is a significant problem you must overcome when opening up new accounts and territories. No matter what you are selling, your prospect already has a trusted relationship with an incumbent vendor and will continue to buy from that vendor even when you have the better solution. The playing field is not level—and you’re on the wrong side. So how can you compete to win?

"Trust is the grease that makes business sales effortless," writes sales pro and trainer Dave Monty in this quick-read book. Opportunity metrics are important, but trust—and a few sharp insider tactics Monty reveals—is the guidepost that leads to success. Trust-Based Selling—an abridgement of Monty's Sales Hunting—helps you start establishing trust before you step foot in a prospect’s door, and it shows you the tactics necessary to penetrate new accounts. It also explains:

• The new basic sales skills as taught by master salesman Dave Monty
• Why trust-based relationships enable you to get and keep customers for life
• How to get in step with the customer’s buying cycle
• How to establish trust-based and traditional sales metrics to guide your efforts

With advice based on Monty’s twenty years of IT sales and sales management experience—along with principles confirmed by academic research—Trust-Based Selling is a fast read that is packed with real-life examples and prescriptions for achieving sales success. It will prove a lifesaver for any new salesperson, as well as sales veterans needing to develop new skills and rekindle the zeal required to succeed in sales.

What you’ll learn

• Why traditional sales models do not work for new account acquisition.
• Why long-term sales success is now built on developing a trusted relationship with the customer.
• The best methods for achieving first meetings.
• The best solutions to lead with.
• How to qualify customers and opportunities.
• Where to best spend your time.
• How to measure and track your success.

About the Author

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Dave Monty has sold software and hardware solutions for over 20 years. He has been account manager, regional manager, or director of sales for such companies as Cisco, EMC, and Dimention Data. He has also sold products made by Symantec, Hitachi, Sun, VMWare, and NetApp. Monty is currently developing territories on the Eastern seaboard for Fusion-io. He lives in North Carolina.