"Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters."

Albert Einstein

Unfortunately, we're living inside a world devoid of trust.

In personal relationships, small lies can erode trust over time, making it difficult to rely on someone when it truly matters.

In professional and business contexts, a lack of integrity in minor dealings often predicts unreliability or unethical behavior in larger, more impactful decisions.

Mere simple acts of careless truth erode trust, relationships and your ability to grow sales.

In Einstein's quote, he's suggesting the principle that honesty is not situational. If a person is willing to be untruthful or negligent about the truth in trivial matters, it signals a fundamental flaw in character that is likely to manifest in more consequential situations as well.

Integrity is a habit, not a choice reserved for important occasions.

Trust, once broken, even in small ways, can undermine confidence in all areas of your personal and professional life.

In a post-trust world, the most powerful sales strategy is an authentic heart that builds real trust.

Selling with Soul in a Distrustful World

In a world drowning in skepticism and overloaded with empty promises, trust is the currency of connection and connection is the catalyst for sales.

In this post-trust economy, traditional sales tactics fall flat, while authenticity rises.

This why Authentic Relationships + Meaningful Value + Inspirational Experience + Disciplined Habits, is more than a sales concept; it’s a movement.

Today’s buyers, your clients and future clients are weary of empty suits. They crave sincerity, transparency, and people who lead with heart.

As sales professionals, I'm asking you to shift from transactional to transformational. That shift begins and ends with trust.

In our time together, we’ll explore three powerful ways the Trust Formula drives real, sustainable sales results, while cementing your approach in purpose and people.

Authentic Relationships Build Relational Capital That Opens Doors

Trust is the foundation of every successful business relationship.

Let’s start where all genuine selling begins, relationships. Authentic Relationships (AR) are the first and most crucial component of the Trust Formula. Why? Because buyers don’t want to be closed, they want to be understood.

You’re not just selling a product; you’re building relational capital that earns you the right to help. And that begins by showing up with sincerity, not a script.

Why This Works:

• People open up to professionals they know, like, and trust. Who are real, relatable and relevant.

• Intentional relationships reduce resistance and invite vulnerability in conversations.

• Authenticity cuts through the noise.

Your sales success stems from your ability to relationally prospect, strategically mapping your network and using multiple entry points to build trust before you even get the meeting.

Your Action Items:

• Identify your “Who Are Your Six” for each target account, six influencers and decision-makers to build relationships with.

• Use LinkedIn to engage with empathy, not ego. Comment on their wins, add meaningful insights, and send sincere messages.

• Have trust-building conversations, not pitch sessions. Lead with curiosity.

You are one degree of separation from your best opportunities.

Meaningful Value Aligns with Buyer Outcomes and Elevates Differentiation

The greatest way you can add value to your clients is to provide them with strategic, actionable advice going beyond the most obvious solutions.

Meaningful Value (MV) is the second foundational pillar in the Trust Formula. It’s not about how you define value; it’s about what your clients or future clients believe is valuable. When salespeople focus only on features and their products, they fall into commoditization.

When they focus on outcomes and meaning, they stand out.

In my dear friend and podcast partners book, Revenue Growth Engine, Darrell Amy, reinforces this beautifully, true sales growth happens when companies consistently deliver business outcomes that matter to their buyers.

Why This Works:

• Meaningful value-driven conversations differentiate you from competitors.

• Buyers trust those salespeople who help clarify their challenges and co-create solutions.

• It builds business intimacy, the ability to speak to personal and professional goals alike.

Buyers may not say it out loud, but they’re always wondering, “Do you really understand my world?”

Value builds trust when it’s relevant and personalized.

Your Action Items:

• Create a “value worksheet” that maps out the buyer’s goals, current pain points, and ideal outcomes.

• Ask this in your next discovery call - “What would success look like one year from now because of what we’re doing together?”

• Drop the sales script. Instead, co-create the solution with your clients or future clients.

When you change the conversation, you change the outcome and how you are viewed.

Grab the books that will transform your sales career.

Disciplined Habits Build Predictable Results and Long-Term Trust

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent work leads to success.”

Dwayne Johnson

Great intentions fall apart without execution. That’s where the fourth element of the Trust Formula, Disciplined Habits (DH), separates the hopeful from the high performers.

Trust is not built in a single meeting. It’s built through a pattern of consistent, intentional follow-through. Disciplined Habits help you create a cadence of accountability, keep opportunities moving forward, and show your clients that you do what you say you’ll do.

Why This Works:

• Clients trust consistency more than charisma.

• Discipline eliminates the peaks and valleys of performance.

• It allows you to re-engage with deals that have stalled by being a consistent presence.

Without structure, even the best intentions falter.

Your Action Items:

• Build a Trust Formula dashboard - Score yourself weekly in each of the four areas—AR, MV, IE, and DH.

• Calendar block 90 minutes a day for trust-building activities: follow-ups, value sharing, and strategic check-ins.

• Proactively schedule value-adding touch points.

“It’s not what you do occasionally that matters—it’s what you do consistently.”

Craig Groeschel

Bonus: Inspirational Experience, The X-Factor in Buying Confidence

I'd be remiss if I didn’t mention the third component in the middle of the Trust Formula, Inspirational Experience (IE).

This is where trust becomes felt, not just promised.

Inspirational Experience is how your buyers experience working with you, from the very first call to the final proposal. It’s the energy, clarity, and empathy you bring.

When buyers feel inspired, they’re far more likely to say yes.

Why This Works:

• Emotions drive decisions, logic justifies them.

• An inspired buyer is more confident and more loyal.

• A well-orchestrated experience makes YOU the differentiator.

In Selling from the Heart fashion, this shows up through client-centric listening, bold truth-telling, and crafting a pre- and post-meeting experience that feels intentional and memorable.

Your Action Items:

• Develop a “First-In Meeting” strategy - How will you make a lasting first impression?

• Use client-specific language in your follow-up communications, don’t recycle templates or use industry jargon.

• Send a personalized summary after meetings.

You must protect your most important asset, your relationships.

Trust Is the New Competitive Advantage

We all know buyers are jaded, choices are overwhelming, and AI is impersonating authenticity, trust becomes your most powerful differentiator.

The Trust Formula isn’t just a clever acronym, it’s a sales operating system for the post-trust world.

We all know the game has changed.

Skepticism is a real thing. Clients have been burned, over-promised, under-delivered, and constantly bombarded by sales tactics that feel more manipulative than meaningful.

Choices? Endless. Every solution starts to look the same, sound the same, and promise the same outcomes.

And now, AI is adding fuel to the fire, flooding inboxes, websites, and feeds with polished content that mimics authenticity but lacks soul. It's harder than ever to tell who’s real, who actually cares, and who can truly deliver.

In this noisy, crowded, and increasingly artificial landscape, trust isn’t just nice to have, it’s everything.

And that’s where The Trust Formula comes in.

It’s not another fluffy framework or motivational soundbite. It’s a sales operating system for the post-trust world.

It gives you a clear, actionable way to build, earn, and scale trust, consistently and intentionally. Not through gimmicks. Not through manipulation. But through principles, practices, and positioning that actually resonate with today’s buyer.

Because when trust is in short supply, the person who knows how to generate it on demand? They win.

Here’s the formula again:

AR (Authentic Relationships) + MV (Meaningful Value) + IE (Inspirational Experience) + DH (Disciplined Habits) = TRUST

If you’re tired of the transactional and ready to transform how you sell, then start here.

Start by showing up as the real you. Add value that matters. Inspire belief through your experience. And stay consistent, no matter what.

In a business world riddled with empty suits, trust matters more than ever.

Your Final Action Items:

• Choose one stalled deal and reach out with meaningful value tailored to them.

• Schedule a meeting with a current client just to say thank you, no pitch attached.

• Block off 30 minutes this week to self-score your Trust Formula and ask: Where can I grow?

In a world of copycats, the greatest thing you can be is a trusted original.

Let’s all sell from the heart. Let’s build trust. Let’s change the sales game, one authentic conversation at a time.

Originally published on Larry Levine's LinkedIn.