This is the third post in our series exploring key insights from from Frank Bettger’s classic “|How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling.” This segment focuses on establishing trust and confidence with customers—essential elements for sales success.
Introduction
In sales, who you are can matter as much as what you’re selling. As Frank Bettger discovered through years of experience, deserving and winning trust forms the foundation of long-term sales success. In this post, we’ll explore practical strategies for building genuine confidence in yourself and earning the trust of your prospects and customers.
The Trust Foundation
Trust isn’t just a nice-to-have in sales—it’s essential. When prospects trust you, they listen more carefully, share their true concerns, and ultimately feel comfortable making purchasing decisions. As Bettger emphasizes, gaining trust requires substance, not just appearance: “The real test is: do you believe it, not will the other person believe it?”
This insight shifts our focus from persuasion tactics to genuine value and integrity. The question becomes not “How can I convince them to trust me?” but “How can I truly be trustworthy?”
Building Self-Confidence
Before customers can have confidence in you, you must have confidence in yourself. Bettger identifies several key factors that build genuine self-confidence:
1. Develop Deep Knowledge
Bettger doesn’t mince words: “Know your business… and keep on knowing your business!” He observes that “the leaders are men who know their business,” noting that while “charm and good manners are worth up to $30 a week,” after that, “the pay-off is in direct ratio to the amount of specialized know-how in a fellow’s head.”
Action step: Create a personal knowledge development plan with these components:
- Daily: Read industry news and product updates (15 minutes)
- Weekly: Study competitor offerings and industry trends (1 hour)
- Monthly: Take a course or read a book to deepen your expertise (4 hours)
2. Prepare and Practice Thoroughly
Confidence comes from preparation. Bettger advocates for continuous practice: “If you want to be a star in the selling game, you’ve got to have your fundamentals—the A B C’s of your job, so firmly in your mind, that they are part of you.”
Action step: Implement Bettger’s own preparation method:
- Write out your sales talk word for word
- Continue improving it based on real experience
- Read and reread it until you know it (without memorizing)
- Practice delivering it to colleagues or your manager
- “Drill… Drill… Drill” until it becomes natural
3. Maintain Accurate Records
Knowing your numbers creates confidence. Bettger emphasizes “the importance of keeping complete records, and studying them regularly,” calling it something every sales executive should “make absolutely compulsory.”
Action step: Create a simple tracking system that records:
- Number of calls/meetings
- Conversion rates at each stage
- Common objections and effective responses
- Follow-up activities and results
- Review these metrics weekly to identify patterns
Earning Customer Trust
With self-confidence established, you can focus on building trust with customers through these proven approaches:
1. Be Scrupulously Honest
Bettger learned through experience that honesty isn’t just ethical—it’s practical. He quotes a colleague who lost business due to exaggeration: “It really was misrepresentation… I lost the business.” Bettger concludes that the most successful approach is to “bluntly tell the truth about your article.”
Action step: Make these trust-building habits non-negotiable:
- Never exaggerate product benefits
- Acknowledge limitations openly
- If you don’t know something, admit it and find the answer
- Make only promises you can absolutely keep
2. Speak Well of Competitors
Surprisingly, Bettger found that “praising competitors has proved to be a very happy and profitable way of doing business.” He adopted Benjamin Franklin’s philosophy: “I will speak ill of no man—and speak all the good I know of everybody.”
Action step: When competitors come up in conversation:
- Acknowledge their strengths honestly
- Never criticize or demean their offerings
- Focus conversation back on your unique value
- Practice this approach until it becomes natural
3. Provide Social Proof
Bettger calls this “bringing on your witnesses”—providing concrete evidence that others have trusted you and been satisfied. He notes this approach is “an infallible way to gain a man’s confidence quickly.”
Action step: Develop your “witness” strategy:
- Collect testimonials from satisfied customers
- Prepare case studies of successful implementations
- Maintain a list of references willing to speak with prospects
- Have these ready to share at appropriate moments
4. Present Yourself Professionally
While substance matters most, appearance still counts. Bettger notes, “Clothes don’t make the man, but they do make ninety percent of what you see of him.” He adds that when “you feel well dressed, it improves your mental attitude toward yourself, and gives you more self-confidence.”
Action step: Evaluate and upgrade your professional presentation:
- Dress slightly better than your average customer
- Ensure all materials (proposals, presentations) are polished
- Pay attention to digital presence (email signatures, LinkedIn profile)
- Consider investing in professional image consulting if appropriate
5. Show Genuine Interest
Bettger cites Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom: “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.” This means showing authentic interest in the person, not just as a potential customer.
Action step: Practice these customer-focused habits:
- Ask how they got started in their business
- Learn about their challenges and ambitions
- Remember personal details and follow up appropriately
- Look for ways to be helpful even outside the sales context
Making Strong First Impressions
First impressions set the tone for trust-building. Bettger found that prospects “admire the salesman who is natural, sincere, and honest in his approach, and who comes right to the point about the purpose of his call.”
For successful approaches, Bettger offers this wisdom:
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Be transparent about your purpose: People “dislike salesmen who keep them in suspense about who they are, whom they represent, and what they want.”
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Focus on their problems: Rather than immediately pushing your product, position yourself as a problem-solver.
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Consider using appointment selling: Bettger observed that “people prefer to work by appointment!”
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Avoid trickery with gatekeepers: While some salespeople use tricks to get past secretaries and receptionists, Bettger believes “the best way to outsmart secretaries and switchboard operators is never to try!”
Action step: Craft a clear, concise introduction that:
- Identifies who you are and your company
- States your purpose briefly
- Indicates the value you might provide
- Asks if now is a convenient time to talk
Maintaining Long-Term Relationships
Building trust doesn’t end with the sale. Bettger emphasizes that successful salespeople “never forget a customer; never let a customer forget you.”
He shares wisdom from sales executives who told him: “New customers are the best source of new business. New customers!” Why? Because “new customers are enthusiastic and happy about their new purchase… They are anxious to tell their friends and neighbors about it.”
Action step: Implement a systematic follow-up process:
- Make courtesy calls shortly after purchase to ensure satisfaction
- Offer help or service proactively
- Ask satisfied customers for referrals
- Check in regularly with valuable reminders or information
One executive summarized this approach perfectly to Bettger: “If you take care of your customers, they’ll take care of you.”
Key Takeaways
- True confidence comes from thorough knowledge and preparation.
- Honesty isn’t just ethical—it’s the most practical approach to building trust.
- Speaking well of competitors counterintuitively builds your own credibility.
- Social proof through testimonials and references accelerates trust-building.
- Professional presentation enhances your credibility and self-confidence.
- Showing genuine interest in customers establishes deeper connections.
- Effective follow-up turns customers into advocates and referral sources.
Action Plan
- Conduct an honest self-assessment of your product knowledge and create a development plan to address gaps.
- Write out your sales presentation and practice it with at least three colleagues for feedback.
- Create a system for collecting and organizing customer testimonials and references.
- Develop a clear, concise introduction that transparently explains who you are and your purpose.
- Implement a formal follow-up process for new customers to ensure satisfaction and generate referrals.
Reflection Questions
- What aspects of your product or service do you feel most confident discussing? Where might you need to deepen your knowledge?
- How comfortable are you acknowledging product limitations or praising competitors? What beliefs might be holding you back?
- What specific actions could you take to present yourself more professionally while remaining authentic?
- How might your approach to gatekeepers or administrative assistants be affecting your success rate?
- What’s your current process for following up with customers after the sale? How could you improve it?
Looking Forward
In our final segment, we’ll explore Bettger’s strategies for closing sales effectively and handling objections. You’ll learn practical techniques for guiding prospects to decisions and maintaining resilience throughout the sales process. These closing strategies, combined with the trust-building approaches covered here, create a complete framework for sales success.
Jump to Part 4 - Closing Sales and Building Resilience - The Final Steps to Success
This content represents my own analysis and interpretation of concepts from Frank Bettger’s _How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling. For the complete experience and the full depth of these ideas, I highly recommend purchasing and reading the original book.