Want me to open up? Ok, you go first.
To sell anything — an idea, a perspective, a product, a lifestyle, a service, etc — your audience must trust you and that your offer will give them the result(s) they expect. The most direct route to earning trust is through openness and honesty. On your part. By letting people in and seeing you as you are when no one’s looking. Easy to grasp. Very, very hard to do.
But your vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. It’s a feature, not a bug. To get someone to take an action you know will benefit them greatly, you’ve gotta go first when it comes to sharing those stories.
The more vulnerable you are (on your own merit without being called out), the more relatable you become, and the more you lower that trust barrier for your prospect to take that leap. But it’s gotta be done early and often. Your experiences told well are all you need.
Video is a great tool to express these truths when being in-person isn’t possible. People can look into your eyes, observe your mannerisms, and get a better feel for who you are. But the moment someone can tell that even you don’t believe what you’re saying, you’ve lost them in a way from which it’s hard to bounce back.
So try this: turn on your self-facing cam, close your eyes, and silently tell yourself, “I want to connect with everyone out there who needs what I’m selling and learn all about what makes them tick, but before they trust me, I’ve gotta go first.” Then hit record and express your truth. To a live audience. Over and over again until it becomes second nature. Definitely not a daunting task. At all.
If you can be upfront about your flaws and failures more than you toot your own horn, those you wish to influence will respond to that and eventually open up to you. That’s your “in” to learn more about them and deepen that relationship, allowing you to build more solutions to their problems — and the cycle continues…
