Attention, Please.

Seth Godin says, “When everyone has access, no one does. The people you want most to reach are likely to be the same people that are the most difficult to reach.”

Attention is not ours to merely claim whenever we want it. And likewise, trust is not something you snap your fingers and voilà it appears.

Trust, just like attention, is earned and seriously underrated.

Most of our relationship pursuits begin with a lack of credibility. It’s not that you are a poor salesperson or marketer, you just haven’t yet earned the attention you need or want to make the sale.

The reality is, getting attention is becoming more and more difficult. We may not like it, but it’s true. Think about yourself. Don’t you screen your calls, spam or trash unwanted email, TiVo your favorite shows to minimize commercials, and chat or text more often than you talk face to face? Observe people in most public places, it appears they have their iPhone implanted to their hand! Getting attention is no longer easy.

So if it takes credibility to gain attention, how do you get credibility?

You begin with a concept I call the Value and Trust Ladder.

As you can see from the illustration, the left axis is Value and Trust, and on the bottom axis is Price. The place you want to take our customer to is the upper right-hand corner where there is the dollar ($) sign. This is the place where you provide the most value. It is also the place where trust is at it’s highest.

Where most salespeople lose is asking for the sale before there is enough trust. You must begin by investing in the relationship. You will more than likely know that what you are offering is of value when you feel that it cost you something. When you deliver that value first and then patiently lead, trust will begin to grow, and you will demonstrate to your customer that you are worthy of their attention. As you climb higher up the value chain, you will earn more and more trust as well as higher premium sales.