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"Never underestimate the difficulty of the task" is a byword for master marketer Dan Kennedy. Customers have been disappointed again and again with poorly performing products and shoddy service, so they are naturally skeptical of anything that might be said by a stranger and delighted when they find products and services that are reliable.

Matt Zagula is a financial planner. Matt Zagula and Dan Kennedy have developed a coaching program to help financial planners market themselves more effectively in an environment where testimonials aren't allowed. In No B.S. Trust-Based Marketing, Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Zagula discuss how an individual or company can be positioned to be trusted by the customer.

The purpose is for the customer to accept the individual or company enough to listen to their story without a huge wall of skeptical resistance. If you can achieve that level of trust, you will be much more effective in building relationships with customers and do more business.

The purpose of these techniques is not to trick, exploit and disappoint the customer. As sales trainer Zig Ziglar says, "The most important part of the sales process is the salesperson." If you don't start from a base of character, honesty and integrity, then you're just setting the customer up for more disappointment and building the wall of skepticism for everybody else. Delivering what you promise is the foundation of Trust-Based Marketing.

What is the objective of this approach? It's to develop a customer for life. Most business are trying to get a customer to make a sale. We try to make a sale to get a customer. Then we build a relationship of trust from which we can continue to offer valuable products and services to accepting customers who trust us.

A good place to start is to know and understand your customers. Before a prospective customer or client meeting, you should at least do some research on the internet. Information is so easily available. People self-publish their profiles on social media. Market to groups who share common interests, preferably by referral and endorsement. Once you are accepted by one, you will find it easier to be accepted by his or her friends and associates.

Instead of being a salesperson, be a consultant. A salesperson automatically triggers defenses and skepticism. Consultants help people and companies solve their problems. But highly-respected, desirable consultants aren't easily accessible. Place some "hoops" to reach you.

American society has become celebrity-centric. Writing a book is one of the steps in becoming a celebrity. It's generally accepted that an individual who writes a book about a subject must be an authority who is knowledgeable about the subject. You can also establish celebrity through television and radio appearances and writing columns in newspapers and articles in magazines.

People don't buy based on what you tell them or show them. They buy when they believe what you show them or tell them and what you offer solves their problem. Study and use the ideas in No B.S. Trust-Based Marketing and you will be believed by more customers, clients or patients.

Buy it on Amazon: No B.S. Trust Based Marketing: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Trust in an Understandibly Un-trusting World.

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