You will never succeed in sales without the queen

‘If cash is king, credibility is queen,’ you may recall me spouting in a previous blog.

My view on this matter hasn’t wavered over the years.

Credibility is majestic; she is ever conquering and all pervasive. You must respect and obey her every command, any sign of treason, and… OFF with their head!

When we first established our sales training company BOOM! for the most part the business really struggled in the early years, the core reason: zero credibility.

No clients and zero cred is a hazardous mix. We had to earn our stripes by working and adding value to numerous small and smelly opportunities.

Now, nearly a decade on, the world’s biggest and most successful companies entrust us to help drive their sales performance. Business is good, all thanks to the queen.

Half the battle in business is establishing your cred, but this takes time and is a direct reflection of your ability to deliver on your promise, and keep delivering.

When you establish cred quickly you de-activate fear and create an optimistic profile you can then leverage to develop the relationship in the right direction.

You can, of course, establish cred before you’ve even met someone for the first time. This is achieved by way of referral.

If you come highly recommended from a credible source, this immediately establishes credibility, making referral channels a strong driver of sales success. In fact, nearly every high-performer (top 10%) I work with across industries has multiple referral channels at work.

How to play your queen card:

• Stop “closing” and start contributing #AlwaysBeContributing
• Own your mistakes, and don’t let your customer pay for them
• Use third party sources, such as case studies and testimonials
• Develop referral channels. Not just one channel
• Harness social media, do you have 25 followers or 2500? (social proof)
• Activate reciprocity by giving more before you receive
• Constantly seek (honest/direct) feedback to grow and evolve accordingly
• Continue to invest in your relationships, in new ways #YouAreImportant

In a world where everyone is fighting to stand out and get ahead, it’s pretty clear where many go wrong — they chase the king but overlook the queen.

Trent Leyshan is founder of sales training company BOOM! Sales and the author of OUTLAW & The Naked Salesman.