I’m writing this after filming a brand new TV show for Rodney Jones. The show is called, The RL Jones Show: Financial News For Today. Rodney and I filmed 13 episodes in one day and will be releasing the show on Apple TV, Facebook and YouTube this summer. I bring this up because throughout the day Rodney won me over as a financial professional. Not because of fancy pie charts and graphs, but because he built so much trust through his expertise that I wanted to give him my money!
Trust is a very powerful word. We will only do business with someone if we trust them. We build this trust by getting to know someone and then liking them. If we cannot establish getting someone to know us, well, they don’t know that we exist and it’s going to be tough for them to hire us. If they don’t like us, they might still hire us, but it’s unlikely. Plus, who likes landing a bunch of clients that don’t like you? That doesn’t sound like too much fun.
How did Rodney get me to trust him that day? And how has he been able to get hundreds of clients to trust him with their hard-earned money? Today, I want to share three ways to create unbreakable trust using video.
#1: Pre-Sell Yourself Through Video
We’ve all been on a sales call with a prospect where the conversation casually started with, “So who are you and what are we talking about again?”
Those calls are the worst.
I much prefer the calls that start like this, “Hey Greg, I just finished watching a dozen or so of your Ambitious® Life episodes and then signed up to watch your training on how to create an online TV show. After watching I had to get on the phone with you.”
That’s much better. And it’s a reality for those of us ThoughtLeaders® that use media, and video to pre-sell ourselves. Let’s think about this from the prospects shoes for just a minute. Prospects want experts to help them solve their problems. Hiring an expert means they don’t have to do hours upon hours of research, they can trust that they hired the right person for the job and that their problem will go away. We all seek that person in different areas of our lives.
Think about it. Do you have a “car guy” that fixes all the cars for your family and friends? Do you have an attorney that takes care of problems and issues for you? Do you have a Business Agent® that brings you media and marketing opportunities so you don’t have to find them on your own?
How do we find these people?
I like to be that person by placing helpful videos in front of my perfect prospects. Every week I release new episodes of my show, The Ambitious® Life, and run ads to people that I’d love to work with and get them to watch my videos. Every week they see a new video, on a new topic that can help them to build a business that allows them to live a more ambitious life.
Eventually, after seeing a few of them, someone will take the next step and signup for one of my online trainings. By the time I start talking about how they can hire me, they’ve already made up their mind that I am “the guy” because I have been helping them for days or weeks or even months through my online TV show.
There is no competition. Video has done the job of pre-selling. But, if you don’t have any video content to share, it cannot be discovered and you cannot show them to people that you can help. Maybe it’s time to start putting some great videos into the streams of the people your products and services can most help.
#2: Show That You Care
This one seems obvious, but time and time again I see people who are just in it for themselves. They are talking about how great they are and all the deals they closed. That doesn’t build trust with your market. That only shows you are good at “getting money” from people, not actually helping them.
I’d much rather show how I can help people by actually helping them. It’s one of the reasons we always film a “why” video in Season 1 of someone’s TV show. I want to show more than just the X’s and O’s. I want to show that you care about the people on the other end of the transaction.
Travis West, a leading Indoor Air Quality Consultant recently filmed his new TV Show, The IEQ Pro, with us and the last video we filmed was all about his big reason why. Travis has a daughter who is currently teaching English to the families of American soldiers living in South Korea. In parts of Korea the pollution is so bad you can only see a few feet in front of you. Travis doesn’t want to simply provide clean air because he gets paid to do it, he wants to help provide clean air so his children have a better and safer place to live. He believes that no one should have to go to work in a place that’s making them sick.
As you can see, this is a big reason why. It also creates trust, because many of us would want the same thing for our children – clean air. That’s a bond that brings us closer and might be the reason we choose Travis over another consultant.
There’s a great quote to remember when marketing your business, “People only care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” If you’re just in it for the money, people will see right through you. When you care about their success more than your own, they will trust you and your business will grow as a result.
#3: Show & Prove
In The Living Legend Formula course that I developed with Dan Kennedy and Nick Nanton, Dan talks about one of the “Golden Threads” that is found across all legends, the power of Dramatic Demonstration.
Think of any great infomercial you’ve ever seen. The best ones all demonstrate right in front of your eyes how great their product is. The slicer-dicer that chops vegetables in seconds, the hose that folds up to the size of a grape, the lean mean grilling machines and their fat burning, meat flavoring abilities. If you want to build trust with someone, don’t sell them, show them. Show them how you can help. Show them your magic powers and abilities. Show them you can help them, by actually helping them.
In the 60+ episodes we have produced for The Ambitious® Life, we have given our audience 60+ ways to grow their business. There are 60+ business lessons, exercises, ideas, action steps and ideas to live a more Ambitious® Life.
In Rodney’s show, he demonstrates how his financial plans work. He demonstrates the power of creating income for life. He doesn’t just talk about hypotheticals, he shows and proves it. With numbers and calculators, doing simple demonstrations in real time.
If you want to build trust, do the things you say you can do by actually doing them. Video is a very powerful medium because you can’t hide behind words and editors. It’s you on camera. It’s you talking and showing facial expressions. It’s you showing off your magic powers with no mask to pull off.
It’s why I think video is going to help the best of the best continue to rise above and weed out everyone who isn’t as great as they say they are. Talk is cheap. The proof is in the pudding.
It’s Time To Create Unbreakable Trust In Your Business
To build more trust with your audience, you need to start creating content. There is no way around it. You have to put out great content, especially videos, that your market can see. This gets them to know you and like you.
Your market begins to trust you when your content is great. When your content adds value to their lives. When your content actually helps them to solve a problem they have. When your content shows that you are the best in the world at your craft. Once you do this, things start to become effortless.
What are you going to create today?