I thought I knew everything there is to marketing. Everything changed when I had this closing call with one of my clients. In the entire 47 minutes call, never had we once mentioned my copy and how good they are (humble bragging).

In fact, we spend the entire call talking about one thing — his problem with copywriting. He admitted that he is terrible at copywriting and was looking for a sales copywriter. So we talked about the job scope and how we should approach the project.

Again, we didn’t mention anything about copywriting. It’s all about the audience, the brand voice, and the offer to be sold. It hit me after we ended the call. He only cared about his problems and we talked about it the entire freaking call.

You’re reading this because I want to share what I think was the greatest discovery I had about marketing. You may or may not resonate. Feel free to leave if this bore you. If you are interested, let’s get into the juicy stuff.

How trust is actually built (in the mind)

Before your prospects decide to trust you as a marketer, there is a lot going on in their minds. The logical mind is a filter to outside stimuli. It makes your prospects skeptical by nature. This defense mechanism is necessary to protect themselves from potential frauds or scams.

One thing to note about the logical mind is it is a cumulation of previous experiences and events. That means you can assume that almost every prospect you are about to sell to has gone through bad buying experiences in some shape or form in the past. And that explains why their logical mind filters any fishy marketing tactics or strategies to avoid being taken advantage of again.

The only way to get a green light from their logical mind is to appear trustworthy. In business, trust is an important aspect. It won’t matter how good your brand is, you won’t be successful unless your prospect trusts you enough to do business with you. To be trustworthy to your prospects, you need to empathize with them.

Empathy, in a business context, is to acknowledge the feelings and well-being of the people you intend to serve.

This is what separates successful brands from those that are barely making it. They earn their prospects’ trust and serve them like kings and queens. Many fail to realize that happy customers are one of the best ways to grow a profitable business.

Before I hopped on a video call with my client, I shared my portfolio for his reference. He then messaged me about my copywriting rates. I gave him what he wanted. Despite all that, he still wanted a call to discuss the rates and the project. I agreed. We called and had an agreement.

We went back and forth. It took us roughly two weeks to reach an agreement. But it was worth the effort because he was looking for a sales copywriter all along. So future collaboration is guaranteed. My point here is trust-building takes time. Trust in the process and it will pay off.

You have to focus on the conversation inside their heads

The moment a prospect goes to Google to look up something particular is when you know there is a problem they want to solve. In fact, we all do it. We ask Google when we want a solution to a problem. This problem is the conversation that is going on inside our heads.

The first step towards earning your prospect’s trust is to help them find a solution via your product or service. Before they pay you, they want to know if you are able to solve their problems.

Emphasis on the word ‘solve’, not ‘sell’. Once you shift from solving to selling, you have already lost them. So take time to pinpoint the problem at hand and provide the best possible solution.

You might be wondering how is this better than social proof, testimonials, and other credibility tools. Let me explain. The mind focuses on what is important and ignores the rest. It’s like tunnel vision. Your prospects will sometimes lose their sleep just because they can’t find a promising solution. They are actively looking for a solution.

This is where you come in and position yourself as the worthy solution provider. The problem with most businesses out there is that they focus more on the benefits which indirectly tell the prospects they are only interested in getting paid.

When you are the only few who empathize with the prospects and are able to present a viable solution, you eliminate 98% of your competition.

Features and benefits put the focus on you while problems and solutions put the focus on them.

You have bypassed their logical filter and earned their trust by doing so. All you need to do is to close the sale and they become paying customers. Making a sale is as easy as that. Whether you are marketing or selling, always remember to get granular on your prospect’s problems and help them find a solution.

Let’s go back to my example. During our call, as I have mentioned earlier, we didn’t talk about copywriting at all. The topic was about his business and things that he needed help with in regards to copywriting. Those are the conversations that are going on inside his head. I listened, offered a solution, and closed the deal. It’s one of the easiest closing calls I have ever made.

Work your way into being accepted as trustworthy

As the headline says, your job is to be trustworthy to your prospects. With that being said, think about your messaging in your marketing effort. Are you solving problems or are you selling benefits? If you ever study your own behavior when buying stuff online, you would notice that the first thing you focus on is the problem then the price and quality second.

You would buy from whoever can solve it. Sure, the benefits matter. But it won’t matter if you don’t choose to look at it in the first place. Your prospects go through the same buying process as you — compare, inquire, decide, and commit. The process works whether they are buying a pair of shoes or a complex B2B software.

Your job is to tap into the conversation that is going on inside their heads and work your way into being accepted as trustworthy. Once trust is established, the buying process kicks in automatically. You don’t have to force anything into place. If they are interested in buying, they will buy. If they don’t, you should move on.

Here is an important thing you need to know when it comes to becoming a trusted source for your prospects: it will take time.

So hold onto your horses and put serious effort into building a meaningful connection with your prospects. Building trust is an expensive and time-consuming activity. If you are spending money on paid advertisements, this is probably where most of the money goes.

The reason why it takes so much time is that your prospects’ logical minds filter everything you put out to them. You need to tear down those walls of doubts layer by layer. And to reach the unfiltered part of your prospects’ minds, you will need more than just posting regularly on social media. You need to advertise, engage with them on call, and so on. Just like a date. Woo them until you are officially in a relationship.

Conclusion

Marketing is science. It’s about building trust with your prospects in a cost-effective manner. Once you have reached the point where your prospects trust you enough to buy from you, it’s when your sales have the potential to skyrocket through the roof. If you know how to effectively do it of course.