Harvey Mackay recently said, "When customers trust salespeople, they buy from them."

We’re in horrific times right now and it is so easy to throw away trust for the sake of price. And, it is so easy to hop on the cheapest source for your tradeshow exhibit. But let me be trite about it, "cheap isn’t cheap".

Just recently at CES I met up with a prospect I lost last fall to the cheaper guy. The booth was an embarrassment to both my contact and her CEO. With a bit of sweet revenge, I received an apology and promise to do business together next year. This scenario is becoming all too common recently and that’s why we continue to try hard, upfront, to show and prove our trust and commitment – especially to the new customer who hasn’t experienced trust in a respected exhibit builder.

From these extra ordinary efforts comes what I call "front-end testimonials". These are statements from customers that say, "I made the decision to work with you because …………" Here’s a few examples I recently received:

"Ms V. has constantly kept me in the loop about what was going on with Absolute and I must say that we have really appreciated the supportive attitude you demonstrated in the process of booth layout definition. Now I think we have all indications to select out supplier, and let me say that Absolute is the choice we would recommend."

"Hello Terry, we took the final decision this morning regarding the company which will build the stand for CES 2009. Absolute Exhibits was selected after a deep analysis of all the candidates."

"Terry, thank you for working so hard to make this work. I would like every one of the sales in my company to be as persistent and aggressive as you. Your boss should consider giving you a raise!…. because of the possibility of better service from you (hopefully this level of persistence continues after the contract’s signed) and possible hidden costs with my purchase, I am still open to selecting Absolute’s rental" (and she did!).

I want you to know that I appreciate your efforts and that I value your stick with it attitude. If you are at NAB and have time, please come by to say hello. Absolute is fortunate to have you on their staff.

So, when jumping to the cheapest vendor, first re-visit the thinking process. Is it because you don’t trust me or because you don’t care?