Trust Is A Must

Trust and respect can only be earned. You earn it by a predicable behaviour when you consistently fulfill on your promises. I like the analogy of the emotional bank account. Some people will not give you credit to withdraw anything from them until you first make a deposit in their emotional bank account. This is equivalent to the 'Ethos' a speaker initially seeks to establish with his audience according to Greek rhetoric. Before Ethos is there (the deposit is made) they will not listen to the message; your 'Pathos' (what you have to say).

Understanding Sales As A Buyer

When we want to improve our selling skills it is useful to think about it from the perspective of the buyer. When we are on the purchasing side of the table we don't want to "get sold to". We want to make up our own mind based on what is being offered, taking the trustworthiness of the sales person into account. A great question to ask when evaluating new sales techniques is: "Would that approach work on me?"