Selling isn’t about persuading people to buy.
It’s about helping them decide what to do next.
A new book from Fred Copestake exploring a more thoughtful and effective approach to modern sales conversations.
Selling Doesn’t Need to Feel Like This
Many traditional sales approaches still rely on pressure, persuasion and tactics designed to push deals forward.
But modern buyers expect something different.
They want transparency, understanding and the freedom to make decisions with confidence.
Trust First Selling offers a different perspective.
Instead of focusing on persuasion, it focuses on trust.
A Different Way to Think About Selling
Trust First Selling is built around a simple idea
When trust comes first, better decisions follow
Rather than trying to control outcomes, this approach focuses on helping buyers understand their situation clearly and decide what to do next with confidence
The Trust First Selling Model
Connect - Consult - Close
Create safety
Build clarity
Enable confident decisions
Three simple stages that transform how sales conversations happen.
What You'll Discover in the Book:
How to create genuine connection without artificial rapport techniques
How to explore a buyer’s situation with curiosity rather than interrogation
How to support confident decisions without pressure or persuasion
How to apply the Connect - Consult - Close model in everyday conversations
How trust leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.
Who This Book Is For?
Trust First Selling is written for:
Professional sellers
Consultants and advisors
Founders and business owners
Anyone who finds themselves selling as part of their role
In short, anyone who wants to sell effectively without compromising their values.
Is this you?
The book categorises people selling as Professional, Dual Role and Accidental/Reluctant
The Professional Seller
Selling is the job
This group includes people who sell full time. Sales is what they are paid to do, measured on, and often known for.
As well as B2B sales this group includes automotive sales professionals, estate agents, new homes advisors, mortgage and finance brokers, insurance advisors, recruiters, travel consultants, and those working in high-value or specialist retail environments.
These are competitive markets. Buyers are informed, sceptical, and often wary. Trust is fragile and reputation matters.
The Dual-Role Seller
Selling is part of the job
For this group, selling is important but it isn’t the whole role.
This includes tradespeople, dispensing opticians and optical assistants, surveyors, architects, interior designers, IT service providers, account managers, consultants, professional services providers, and many others.
They are experts in what they do. Their credibility matters. Sales tends to happen in conversation, not in formal pitches
The Reluctant Seller
Selling feels like a necessary evil
This group didn’t start out to sell at all.
They started businesses to deliver a service, follow a passion, or help others. Selling feels uncomfortable, awkward, or even wrong.
This includes wellness practitioners, coaches, therapists, personal trainers, pet groomers, beauty professionals, creatives, educators, solopreneurs, and many small service-based business owners.
What brings them together?
No matter how you came to selling, the truth is the same.
Buyers want to feel safe.
Buyers want clarity.
Buyers want to trust the person guiding them.
Trust First Selling works because it removes pressure, restores confidence, and helps people make better decisions.
Fred Copestake
Fred Copestake is founder of Brindis
Over the last 25 years he has travelled round the world 14 times visiting 38 countries working with 10,000 salespeople
Using this to understand the challenges salespeople face he has taken what makes a difference in modern selling and explored this in his book 'Selling Through Partnering Skills’.
These ideas form the basis of his work with sales professionals involved in complex B2B sales to develop their approach and ensure it is up to date and has maximum impact.
Aware of the unprecedented speed of change in the world of sales in his second book 'Hybrid Selling' he addressed how salespeople can adapt and evolve their approach to avoid becoming irrelevant. This quickly went to number one on Amazon after it’s launch.
Fred's third book is 'Ethical Selling' and he is host of the popular Sales Today podcast
When Fred is not delivering training to UK or international clients, he can be found enjoying rugby, cricket and time with his wife and cats.
Fred’s ambition is simple but powerful:
Good people, doing good things, in a good way.
Thinking of adding Trust First Selling to your AI?
Go for it!
I encourage you do that
Please not that not all authors will feel the same about this
I'm different
I want you to get the maximum benefit
If this involves using your favourite AI model to interrogate the content and make it work for you... so be it
I always say that implementation beats information
If this will help you use the ideas then that is a good thing
Let me know how you get on
FRED
