Being someone who cannot stay put, I sometimes to choose to work at cafes. Usually at CBTL or some place where there’s a comfy chair and chill music. Starbucks tends to be on the bottom of my cafe list but each time I go in, I remember why it’s really my “Third Home” too. Their positioning and their customer experience are just working on and for me.

I was at Starbucks – Jupiter branch last Sunday from 11:00AM to 4:00PM. It was a slow day for Starbucks with only five customers. I like the Sunday slowdown. It allows me to think and plan. It’s somewhat similar to meditation.

I took the time to plan for the week, quarter and the coming years. It’s times like these that I get to reflect about my professional and personal life.

I’m trying to use Asana, our new sales / project management tool. It’s okay but I feel like it’s taking me so much administrative time to keep it updated. I’ll see if I can keep up with it. I still like taking down (detailed) notes on my notebook, and now I really have to make a choice to either do both OR just to stick to Asana.

I was successful in planning and even allotted some time for my Coursera course.

People will always say that Sales is forcing the other person to buy from you. However, it’s not the case especially toward enterprise selling. To me, the sales process is akin to dating. The buyer who has a need or want is looking for an ideal partner with certain qualities, and so is the seller or vendor. You search the sea to find “the one” and the “perfect relationship”. What we are looking for is an ideal partnership or collaboration and a WIN-WIN!

When the buyer and seller just met wherein there was no relationship prior, this is more challenging as with any type of relationship, trust must be built and established. And in the corporate scenario, this takes TIME and this usually takes years.

From my experience, here are the top five (5) things to build trust with your prospect:

• Be sincere –  Sincerity is a combination of your physical and mental impressions. You have to be true and earnest. In enterprise sales, sincerity is your genuine concern in solving a problem and helping the client. Customers can tell if you are insincere about your dealing with the client and that you are just there to make a buck.
• Be reliable – You must walk the talk. You must follow through. One must be consistently dependable for both all the big and small commitments that you give the customer because they will remember. This will slowly and surely build their confidence in you. Be reliable.
• Work with integrity – This is not only the cornerstone of sales but also of every professional.  It is generally a personal choice to hold oneself to consistent moral and ethical standards. It is being consistent in everything that you say or do. When you have integrity and clients recognize this, they will keep on coming back and you will have a long-term relationship with them.
• Be proactive – You have to make things easy for your client and you have to guide them in every step and this includes knowing what to do next after each step. Customers will appreciate that you think for them and you anticipate what their needs are. Avoid being reactive to their concerns and always have that proactive mindset at all times.
• Be customer-focused – I always look after the welfare of my customer which always get me thinking on what will make them more successful, what do they need and how can I help them get there fast. I will not force a solution that they do not need. My role is to be a trusted consultant or advisor of my customer all throughout the journey.

When you are starting out, I would suggest you focus on these five things and you will surely gain your customer’s or partner’s trust. Good luck!

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