Selling to Cynics | How to Build Trust in a High Scepticism Market

Have you noticed that getting a sale feels harder lately? You’ve got a belting product, your price point’s right, your marketing strategy’s solid, but you’re getting zero bites and it feels like an absolute mission to get buyers over the line?

You’re not imagining it; there’s a reason it’s happening.

Today’s consumers are more sceptical than ever, and you can’t blame them. For years, they’ve been duped or pressured into buying stuff that didn’t deliver.

First it was ‘get-rich-quick’ ideas and pyramid schemes dressed up as multi-level marketing. Now, social media’s saturated with ads from so-called influencers promoting shady products.

Meanwhile, sites like Timo and Alibaba promise things that look legit but no one knows where they’re coming from, what the quality’s like or if they’ll even turn up.

Buyers know they’re being tricked

Sellers are acting like dickheads, and that’s why the market’s so sceptical.

Buyers these days know when they’re being tricked. They won’t just take your word that a product works; they want proof. So now, the first thing they’ll do is find the genuine reviews and make sure there’s a return policy.

A big thing to remember in this marketplace is that people buy people. If they sense that the person they’re investing with isn’t serious or is just dabbling with their business, they instantly lose trust. I see it all the time, especially in the coaching space.

People are constantly re-styling themselves and giving themselves job titles without any qualifications. One minute they’re running a mastermind, the next they’re running an event and they’re not doing the mastermind anymore. They transition into one-to-one, and then they’re not doing one-to-one anymore because they’ve opened a boutique.

Seriously, how can people trust you if you don’t even know what you’re doing yourself? That kind of behaviour is causing big problems.

People only post the good stuff

Another thing making the market feel weird is that nothing seems real anymore. There’s no better illustration of that than social media; people only post the good stuff, mostly, and that creates a warped sense of reality.

That lack of authenticity, whilst everyone’s screaming about how authentic they are, is creating massive distrust in the marketplace.

Sellers should be vulnerable and open about the nitty gritty of how they get results. Yet a lot of them are out there posting pictures of themselves lathered in oil, spread across a Lamborghini, going: “Join my get-rich-quick scheme.”

For hundreds of years, authenticity has been a proven way to sell something, but now people are trying to do it through aspirational nonsense.

No wonder buyers are so cynical these days.

So how can you overcome that scepticism and drive more sales? As well as being authentic – like genuinely authentic – you start by controlling your sales environment.

In-room sales are the easiest sales you’ll ever make. But if you don’t have the skills or opportunity to speak in front of a room, you need to create an environment that easily facilitates sales, and be in control of that environment.

Let them walk away

A lot of business owners think they have to control their prospects, but that’s not true; you’ve just got to limit the number of options they have.

Option one is to let them walk away; give them permission to say no early doors. Two is to say yes, let’s crack on. Three is to ask more questions. That’s it; there’s nothing else to it.

I’ve seen people make the mistake of getting into a sales situation, or a bottom-of-the-funnel marketing situation, and they’re still talking about features and benefits.

The prospect’s booked an appointment with you, they’ve done their research, they don’t care about how many whiz-jigs it’s got or how fast it is. They know all that stuff.

They want to see the whites of your eyes and whether you can back up your claims.

Controlling the sales environment

What sellers should do instead is ask their prospects this question: “What transformation are you looking for?” And they might say: “Well actually, my car’s not running as well as I think it could, I’d like you to tune it for me to get an extra 60 horsepower out of it.”

So then you can say: “OK, well according to our system, we can only get 47 horsepower out of it. But what that means for you on the road is that it’ll accelerate a bit faster, be more fuel-efficient because it’ll also increase the torque, and you’ll have more pulling power.

“I don’t think you’ll notice the difference between 47 and 60 horsepower, although I appreciate you wanting to make 60. How should we proceed?”

In that example, we’ve controlled the environment, told the truth and given them an option.

And if they come back and say, “No, I only want to work with a tuner who can get me 60 horsepower more.” You can be like: “Well, there are tuners out there who’ll claim they’ll get you 60 more, but they’re basically running the same process as us.

“They might push it a bit further, which will put your engine under strain. But if you want to go down that route, that’s up to you.” As long as that’s true, you’ll move that person towards a sale or a ‘no’. And both are OK.

Budget before choice

One of the most high-scepticism markets out there is car sales.

Most people looking to buy a car already know what they want by the time they get to the forecourt. And these days, with the rising cost of living, they’re likely shopping at the lower end of the market, which means they’ve got a budget – not a specific car – in mind.

This instantly makes them vulnerable, and car salesmen sense that and start pushing something pricier because they know that person really needs a car.

What they should be doing instead is saying: “OK, what do you like? What don’t you like? Is audio important to you? Do you need heated seats? How about air con? Where do you live, do you need to get over a couple of potholes?”

Building a rapport, basically.

But they don’t. In fact, I’ve literally never been to a car salesman who’s asked me any of that. They’re there trying to sell me paint protection before I’ve even bought the f***ing car.

Honestly, what are they doing?

I’ve been in a forecourt before, explained my budget and they’ve still pushed me to buy something I can’t afford. It’s a waste of their time and mine, and makes me feel like they haven’t listened the whole time.

When buyers get remorse

If you’re already in a high scepticism marketplace like car sales, and you make prospects feel like they haven’t been heard, all you’ve done is increase their scepticism.

And what a lot of sellers do now is crank the pressure to make people fold; then those people buy, but with remorse.

Do you really want to run a business where 50% of your buyers have remorse after their purchase?

Personally, I want people to walk away thinking they made a great decision – not walk away questioning their livelihood and whether they can afford their kids’ Christmas presents.

At the core of high scepticism is mistrust – so the first thing you need to do is build trust.

To do that, you’ve got to be relatable. Show your prospects how you’ve helped people who’ve had the same problem as them. Gather up real testimonials, real videos, real data that backs up your claims.

Every touchpoint should reassure

You also need to think about the process you’re taking buyers through. You could be serving up the most epic ads that instantly engage prospects. But if they click on your Insta profile and there’s nothing on there, or click through to your website and it looks awful, you’ve lost the sale at the first touchpoint.

We’ve had clients who are really good at what they do and have amazing facilities, but their website or purchase page looks terrible.

They’ve worked so hard to get traffic to their website, but then they instantly lose their buyers’ trust because the site looks so bad. Every touchpoint needs to reassure the buyer; consistency is crucial.

So how do you turn authenticity, relatability, data and social proof into genuine trust?

Make whatever you’re saying understandable to the person buying. Get rid of all the jargon – it gives people a headache. Show your prospects they’ve been heard and understood; explore their concerns and anxieties.

These actions may feel small, but they add a human element that your bigger competitors – the corporates – can never provide.

Don’t miss the next episode of Stay Hungry – we’ll dive into straight-talking insights on business marketing, growth mindset, and the realities of running a business. And if you want to take the hassle out of your marketing, we’ve got you covered with our done-for-you service.