Successful sales in the 21st century require a set of skills and competencies beyond the reputation of the company and products you, as a salesperson, represent. The nature of sales has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet and the myriad of analytic and research tools available today.

In today's highly competitive business environment--wherein buyers are under pressure to cut costs and award the lowest bidder--one of the keys to building a long-term relationship with clients is to create a basis of trust between the sales representative and the customer.

Directions:

• Prepare a 2- to 3-page paper (not including cover page and references, which you must include) in which you describe how a sales representative should go about building and sustaining trust in the buyer-seller relationship.