High Trust Selling

Citation

McClaren, N. (2004), "High Trust Selling", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 75-76. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760410514030

I must admit that when commencing my review of High Trust Selling I was somewhat skeptical that this book could make a real contribution to the improvement of personal selling. However, I quickly changed my opinion: The book does make an important contribution in the development of professional salespeople. High Trust Selling provides the reader with a sound guide and considerable insight into the nature and process of professional selling.

As the title suggests, Todd Duncan focuses on explaining how to win and maintain the trust of clients that is essential for professionalism in personal selling. He deals with these issues by structuring the book in two sections. In the first seven chapters, Duncan explains how to lay the foundation, at an individual level, to become a trustworthy salesperson. In the following seven chapters he extends this to building a trustworthy sales business.

When laying the foundation for becoming a trustworthy salesperson, the book demands that the reader take stock of the reasons for his or her pursuit of a career in selling. The author addresses many of the psychological aspects with which individuals must comes to terms about themselves prior to embarking on a sales career. Motivation, personal failure, commitment, fulfillment and success are some of the issues that are covered. Mr Duncan challenges the reader, in a most confronting manner, to think deeply about whether he or she has, or can acquire, the sort of personality and vision that are needed to gain customer trust and thus success in selling.

Although the earlier chapters of the book explore aspects having to do with the personality of the individual salesperson, the author does not ignore the practical side of personal selling. This is encapsulated in seven “Laws”:

1. 1.

   (1) The Law of the Iceberg explains that the truest measure of success is invisible to clients.

2. 2.

   (2) The Law of the Summit highlights that direction and perception are closely related.

3. 3.

   (3) The Law of the Shareholder illustrates the benefits of investing in oneself and explains that salespeople must buy stock in themselves by making ten critical investments. Some of these investments include investing in your relationships with those you love, in a long‐term personal‐development program, in a sales coach, in a competent right‐hand assistant, and in technology.

4. 4.

   (4) The Law of the Ladder explains success in terms of the actions that salespeople take.

5. 5.

   (5) The Law of Leverage, salespeople are encouraged to create leverage at personal, associate, and professional levels.

6. 6.

   (6) The Law of the Hourglass deals with time and strategy management. The final law in the first section of the book.

7. 7.

   (7) The Law of the Broom, provides practical guidance to help salespeople take the necessary steps to embark on laying the foundation for building a trustworthy sales business.

There is no doubt in my mind that the first section of High Trust Selling would help many sales professionals understand “the solid, heartfelt foundation that governs high trust selling success, to give you the right perspective on your life and on success so that you can efficiently shape a satisfying career, to help you understand the ‘whys’ of selling so that you can effectively and immediately implement the ‘hows”’ (p. 92).

The second section of the book teaches salespeople how to build a highly trustworthy and prosperous sales business. Again, the author uses a set of “Laws” and a “High Trust Sales Pyramid” to outline and illustrate the steps required to achieve goals. Essentially, in these seven chapters Todd Duncan takes the salesperson through the process of personal selling – from the initial “approach”, through the “interview” and the “solution” stages, to the “action”. These chapters contain much more practical advice, compared to the first section. For example, Chapter 12 (“The Law of the Hook”) is about “offering captivating fulfilling solutions to your prospects in order to secure their devoted business” (p. 192). Here, the author dispels several sales myths having to do with things such as the use of open‐ended questions, demonstrating strong product knowledge, using product features, and closing. The author continues by explaining some of the ways and the importance of making an early impact with customers. When offering significant solutions to clients, practical advice includes knowing when, how, and what to ask customers, as well as what salespeople should do next.

I found High Trust Selling an easy book to read and one in which the interest of the reader is consistently maintained throughout the 14 chapters. A small number of diagrams assist the reader. The author also uses an easily‐understood writing style with numerous examples of varying length. The evidence for the many claims he makes is frequently “anecdotal” and comes from his own personal experience as a salesperson and professional trainer, from his “students”, and from business associates. The depth of insight he provides into the relationship between trust and personal selling demonstrates his sound appreciation of the fundamentals of personal selling. He has structured the book to impart his wisdom in a clear, concise, and passionate manner.

There were a few deficiencies in this book. At the end of each chapter, the author provides a one‐page “Sales Leadership Application”. However, the complexity of managing salespeople in the context of high‐trust relationships requires more than the relatively few words contained in these summaries. An alternative approach would have been to leave the sales manager to digest the material aimed at salespeople and for the leader to act on his or her newly found understanding.

Professionally trained, competent sales managers should already be familiar with much of the material in this book. However, the fact is that many managers do not impart and apply their knowledge to their salesforce, not only in the area of trust and managing customer relationships but also in other important aspects of supervision. Also, some readers might be disenfranchised by the highly motivating style of writing – but the intent of the author is to move readers from their comfort zone to action.

Although much of the material in this book is not “new”, the author has critically examined many aspects of personal selling and synthesized his thoughts to produce an extremely useful guide for salespeople. He deals with what is probably the most critical aspect of personal selling – trust. This book is timely for an era where computing technology is replacing many of the more repetitive functions of personal selling, such as routine order taking. In times where communication is increasingly electronic, the importance of the remaining face‐to‐face communication between buyers and sellers can only become greater. Further, in an age where nearly every aspect of corporate business has been, or will soon be, outsourced, this book is a useful tool for those salespeople who seek to be as independent as possible.

Salespeople who are just embarking on their careers will find High Trust Selling useful. It provides the sort of insights that might otherwise be gained only from years of frustrating experience. Since it motivates the reader to action, early‐career salespeople may benefit from heading in the right direction at the outset of their career. The book will also be of benefit to those salespeople whose sales results or careers have reached a plateau. They will learn new and better ways to achieve more. From reading this book, it is possible, perhaps even likely, that some salespeople will realize that selling is not the career for them. As a former sales executive for a large corporation, I wish I had read this book at the beginning of my selling career, rather than a decade after I finished it!