Building Trust Through Consistency in Sales Practices

Trust doesn't come from your accomplishments. It comes from quiet moves like these: For years I thought I needed more experience, achievements, and wins to earn trust. But real trust isn't built through credentials. It's earned in small moments, consistent choices, and subtle behaviors that others notice - even when you think they don't. Here are 15 quiet moves that instantly build trust 👇🏼 1. You close open loops, catching details others miss ↳ Send 3-bullet wrap-ups after meetings. Reliability builds. 2. You name tension before it gets worse ↳ Name what you sense: "The energy feels different today" 3. You speak softly in tense moments ↳ Lower your tone slightly when making key points. Watch others lean in. 4. You stay calm when others panic, leading with stillness ↳ Take three slow breaths before responding. Let your calm spread. 5. You make space for quiet voices ↳ Ask "What perspective haven't we heard yet?", then wait. 6. You remember and reference what others share ↳ Keep a Key Details note for each relationship in your phone. 7. You replace "but" with "and" to keep doors open ↳ Practice "I hear you, and here's what's possible" 8. You show up early with presence and intention ↳ Close laptop, turn phone face down 2 minutes before others arrive. 9. You speak up for absent team members ↳ Start with "X made an important point about this last week" 10. You turn complaints into possibility ↳ Replace "That won't work" with "Let's experiment with..." 11. You build in space for what really matters ↳ Block 10 min buffers between meetings. Others will follow. 12. You keep small promises to build trust bit by bit ↳ Keep a "promises made" note in your phone. Track follow-through. 13. You protect everyone's time, not just your own ↳ End every meeting 5 minutes early. Set the standard. 14. You ask questions before jumping to fixes ↳ Lead with "What have you tried so far?" before suggesting solutions. 15. You share credit for wins and own responsibility for misses ↳ Use "we" for successes, "I" for challenges. Watch trust grow. Your presence speaks louder than your resume. Trust is earned in these quiet moments. Which move will you practice first? Share below 👇🏼 -- ♻️ Repost to help your network build authentic trust without the struggle 🔔 Follow me Dr. Carolyn Frost for more strategies on leading with quiet impact

I interviewed 150+ B2B buyers in the last 6 months. Here’s the most surprising thing I learned: AE's asking for a 30 minute demo call kills pipeline For a buyer, 30 minutes is a HUGE ask. And if you are using a scheduling link and making them wait 2 weeks for that call, you're dead on arrival.    There are over 1,000,000 sales reps in the United States. These 30 minute demo calls add up to millions of decision maker hours every month. You need to use your buyers time (and attention) more responsibly Buyers want instant answers. They do not think 30 min is fair ask just to get clarity on a few questions The problem isn’t the demo but how and when you do it. Here’s what's actually working for sellers today: 1. ChatGPT: Get the answers to your qualifying questions on ChatGPT and spare the buyer with obvious questions 2. Trust : Use the time to build trust and “really” understand the buyer needs. Ask “What value can I provide you with today to earn the right to another call?” 3. Actively Listen: Let the buyer speak. Listen between the lines. Record the call and listen to it again. 4. Reduce time: Reduce the time for discovery calls to 15 min but try to do it within 24-48 hours 5. Solve problems : 30 minutes isn’t enough to build trust. Trust develops over repeat interactions through consistent problem-solving. Get the process started. 6. Many 15 min calls: Try to do multiple 15 min calls with emails or slack. Use the cadence that works best for the buyer to get immediate value. 7. Provide Micro Value: In every call try to deliver something of value - content, free demo, insights, recommendations or introductions. Ask how you can be useful. When buyers reach out they are often looking for expertise and not a demo Sooner they get the answers, the faster they can move through the buyer’s journey Don’t try to slow them down with relentless qualifying questions or irrelevant demos. The future of sales will not be driven by 30 min demo calls It will be won by sellers that respond fast, solve real buyer problems and earn trust in every interaction.  At Zeer AI, we are building research tools that make this future possible. Until then review your content for the 30 min demo calls and keep earning the right to your buyers time.

How to sell (without feeling salesy): First, understand the Ethical Wealth Formula: (Value First × Trust Building) × Authentic Positioning  ———————————————————  Frequency of Asks × Pressure Tactics This isn't abstract theory. It's practical math: • Increase the numerator: deliver more value, build more trust, position more authentically • Decrease the denominator: reduce frequency of asks, eliminate pressure tactics • Watch revenue soar while your integrity remains intact Ethical doesn't mean unprofitable. It means sustainable. Principle 1: Value-First Monetization The approach that generates $864,000 monthly without a single "hard sell": • Deliver so much value upfront that buying feels like the obvious next step • Create free content so good people say "If this is free, imagine what's paid" • Solve small problems for free, big transformational problems for a fee Give until it feels slightly uncomfortable. Then give a little more. Principle 2: Trust Through Consistency I've never missed weekly content in 3 years, through vacations, illnesses, market crashes. The trust-building machine that works while you sleep: • Show up reliably when competitors disappear during tough times • Do what you promise, when you promise it • Maintain quality across every touchpoint One founder implemented this and saw conversions increase 74% in 30 days, without changing offer or price. Trust isn't built in grand gestures. It's built in boring consistency, most won't maintain. Principle 3: Authentic Positioning The approach that helped me raise prices 300% while increasing sales: • Own your expertise unapologetically, confidence is not arrogance • Speak to specific problems you solve, not vague benefits you provide • Tell detailed stories of transformation instead of listing features You don't need to be perfect to sell effectively. You need to be authentic about how you help. Principle 4: Invitation Vs. Manipulation The ethical alternative to high-pressure tactics: • Invite people when they're ready, don't push when you're ready • Create genuine scarcity (limited capacity) not fake urgency (countdown timers) • Respect "no" as "not now" rather than objection to overcome My most profitable sales sequence has zero countdown timers, zero artificial scarcity, zero pressure. Ethical selling feels like extending help, not hunting prey. — Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Matt Gray for more. Want to improve your sales strategy? Join our community of 172,000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/eTp4jain

A few weeks ago, a friend messaged me. She had just started a new role as VP of Marketing at a Series B startup. From the outside, it looked like a big win. Great company. Exciting product. But she was already drowning. No onboarding. No strategy. A CEO asking for results now. And an inbox full of cold pitches from people who saw her LinkedIn update and pounced. She said, “I just wish someone had said congrats and asked if I needed anything” That stuck with me. In B2B, we’ve trained ourselves to treat these moments like lead scores. - Someone changes jobs? Sell to them. - Company raises money? Sell to them. - They visit your pricing page? Definitely sell to them. Clay just launched a feature called Signals that tracks all of those moments. Job changes. Fundraising. Site visits. New tech in the stack. Hiring trends. Etc. Most teams will use it to go faster. More outreach. More pipeline. That’s fine. But there’s a better way. Use signals to actually show up well. To build trust before there’s even a sales conversation. Here’s how: → Job change: Don’t pitch. Just say congrats or share something helpful for a new leader. → Funding news: Offer insight, not a deck. What might they be walking into? Where do they need support? → Tech added: Send something relevant. Help them get more out of the tools they already chose. → Hiring surge: They’re likely buried. Be useful. Be brief. We’re doing this ourselves. We built a Clay table of past buyers who brought in Refine Labs. Marketers who know how we work. Then we track the signals: → Who just landed somewhere new? → Who’s hiring? → Who joined a company that raised a round? We’re not blasting them. We’re waiting for the right moment to reconnect - with context. Sometimes it’s a congrats. Sometimes it’s a helpful resource. Sometimes it’s just being there. Because these aren’t just leads. They’re relationships. This is brand. Not logos and taglines. It’s how you show up when nobody’s watching. Signals give you awareness. But presence is what builds trust. And trust is what compounds. Use signals to see people. Not just to sell to them. Clay can help. #claypartner