Make More Sales with Know/Like/Trust
A few months ago, I got a DM on LinkedIn from someone I’d followed and exchanged messages with a few times. It was thoughtful, well-written, and ended with an invitation to hop on a call and connect face-to-face.
And immediately, my spidey senses went off.
I was sure it was a setup for a sales pitch. You know the kind—pretend to be interested, then pivot to the pitch five minutes in. I even ran her message through an AI detector because I was convinced it had to be machine-generated bait.
The result? 98% human.
So I took a chance and booked the call.
And you know what? She turned out to be incredibly smart, warm, and interesting—with a business I genuinely wanted to learn more about. In fact, she’ll be one of the first guests on my upcoming podcast.
And OMG – Did I MENTION- I’ve decided to start having GUESTS on The GenXpert Show – I’ll be producing a bunch of episodes this summer and they’ll start airing this fall! But more about that later.
I’ve been having a lot of conversations with people lately who’ve had similar experiences being reluctant to connect or purchase because they’ve been burned. Somebody called it a full blown TRUST RECESSION.
So as experts, what can we do to navigate through this?
Lean into our relationships
Tread lightly as you reach out to establish new relationships (especially online) and try to establish a real connection before you make an ask
Leverage long form content marketing (like my Category-Creator strategy) to shape people’s beliefs so you can help people Know, Like and Trust you online
BTW: I didn’t invent the Know/Like/Trust concept and neither did any of the other online marketing gurus you follow. That idea is pre-internet from a book called “Endless Referrals” and says that “all things being equal, people will buy from the person they know, like and trust. And it’s probably more relevant today than it was when it was written.
Anyway, building K/L/T requires a DIFFERENT kind of content than the kind that gets you likes and follows.
I cover it all in this episode of The GenXpert Show, where we dive into:
The four types of belief-shifting content every coach or consultant needs to be posting consistently
How to audit your content using my simple K/L/T scorecard
What is a “vibe” post and why you need them
I also share a story about dress shopping (yes, really) that perfectly illustrates the buyer journey. And no, it’s not about fashion—it’s about setting yourself up for success
This episode is about more than visibility. It’s about designing content that does the real work of marketing—moving someone from lurker to lucrative.
Watch The GenXpert Show on YouTube or Listen on Apple or Spotify!
