If you’ve been in sales long enough, you’ve heard the phrase: “People buy from those they know, like, and trust.” But let’s be honest; too many salespeople focus on the “like” part while completely missing the foundation: trust.
Trust isn’t built by being overly friendly, cracking jokes, or finding common interests (though those can help). Trust is built through credibility, consistency, and genuine curiosity about the other person. It’s about showing, not telling, that you understand their world, their challenges, and their goals.
At our recent Sales Foundations training, we focused on what it really takes to build trust in sales conversations. If you haven't been through the course, here’s what you missed and what you should start doing today to deepen your relationships and close more deals.
Trust Starts Before You Even Speak
You don’t start building trust when you open your mouth. You start building it before the call even begins. Trust is built when a buyer feels like you “get” them. That doesn’t happen by winging it—it happens with preparation.
In our session, we talked about the importance of:
- Pre-call research: Who are they? What’s their business challenge? What do you already know?
- The right mindset: Are you focused on helping, or are you just trying to close the deal?
- First impressions: How are you showing up? Are you confident, or are you trying too hard to be liked?
Many salespeople get trust-building backward. They go into calls trying to impress rather than understand. They talk more than they listen. They focus on what they have to say rather than what the buyer needs to hear. If that’s your approach, you’re already losing the game.
Listen More Than You Talk
(And Actually Hear What They’re Saying)
One of the biggest mindset shifts we worked on in class was this:
- Stop thinking about what you’re going to say next.
- Start focusing on what the other person is actually telling you.
Most salespeople listen just long enough to respond. Great salespeople listen to understand.
We had attendees complete an exercise where they practiced 70/30 listening—listening for 70% of the conversation and talking for only 30%. The goal was to slow down, ask better questions, and allow the buyer to do the heavy lifting.
Try this: In your next conversation, keep track of how much you talk versus how much your prospect talks. If you’re doing most of the talking, you’re not building trust—you’re just pitching.
Adapt to Different Buyer Personas
Not every buyer wants the same type of interaction. In training, we talked about different personas that show up in sales conversations:
- The Analytical Buyer wants data, proof, and logic. Trust is built through clear, fact-based discussions.
- The Emotional Buyer buys based on feelings, relationships, and instinct. Trust is built through connection and storytelling.
- The Skeptical Buyer questions everything. Trust is built through confidence, directness, and avoiding sales-y behavior.
The key is to meet people where they are. If you’re naturally warm and relationship-focused but selling to an analytical buyer, you might come across as “too much.” You might seem cold if you’re data-driven but speaking to someone who values relationships.
The best salespeople don’t sell the same way to everyone. They adjust, listen, and build trust on the buyer’s terms.
The Up-Front Contract: Why Expectations Matter
We also talked about one of the most powerful trust-building tools in the Sandler Selling System: The Up-Front Contract.
An Up-Front Contract is a simple, clear agreement at the beginning of a conversation that answers:
- Why are we here? (The purpose of the conversation)
- What’s the goal? (What we hope to accomplish)
- What happens next? (Clear next steps)
This does two things: It sets clear expectations, so no one feels like they’re being “sold to,” and it creates equal business stature—the buyer sees you as a partner, not a vendor.
Most salespeople skip this step. Don’t. It’s one of the fastest ways to establish trust.
Trust Takes Time to Build, But It Can Be Lost in an Instant
Finally, we talked about what breaks trust. Here are some of the top trust-killers salespeople fall into:
- Badmouthing the competition makes you look insecure.
- Overpromising sets you up for failure later.
- Forgetting details shows you weren’t listening.
- Being too pushy will cause buyers to shut down.
- Making assumptions leads to the wrong solution.
If you’ve made these mistakes (we all have), the fix is simple: Be self-aware. Pay attention. Do better next time.
Trust takes time to build, but it can be lost in a second. Your job is to earn it, keep it, and reinforce it in every interaction.
If You’re Not Practicing, You’re Not Improving
The salespeople in our session left with homework because trust-building is a skill that needs practice.
Here’s your challenge:
✔️ Self-Assess: Think about your last customer conversation. How well did you build trust?
✔️ Practice Active Listening: Have a conversation where you talk only 30% of the time. Summarize what you learned.
✔️ Role-Play: Before your next sales call, practice your conversation starter and rapport-building strategies.
If you’re not actively improving these skills, you’re leaving deals on the table.
Want to take your trust-building skills to the next level? Join us at our next Sales Foundations session. Let’s chat about how we can build better sales meetings together.
