If you sell B2B professional services, you know it can be a long and complex process. It’s a dance buyers and sellers do over a period of time that is full of opportunities for sellers to differentiate themselves and stand out in a crowd.

That means you have time to build trust and develop a relationship with the buyer. But trust building doesn’t have to be a long process. In fact, the belief that it has to take a long time is a myth, says Andrea Howe, co-author of The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook.

“It is very possible to establish high degrees of trust very quickly,” she says. “In sales situations, the opportunities to stand out can present themselves very early on.”

The key is to have the right mindset and to be aware of those situations, says Howe.

“More often than not the biggest barrier to building trust quickly is our mindset about it,” she says. “If we think it will take time, then it will. We will miss all kinds of opportunities because we won’t even see them to build trust relatively quickly.”

It could be something you say or do that puts a buyer at ease and allows them to let down their guard.

“We as sellers or people in professional services have so much at our disposal to help other people let their guard down. And it usually starts with us doing something to letour guard down,” Howe says. “And if we’re willing to go first, if we’re willing to take those risks, then that moment … where something just changes in an instant—I think those moments are available to us all the time. We just don’t capitalize on them. ”

Listen as Howe discusses:

• The importance of trust in purchasing decisions
• The components of the Trust Equation
• Why it’s important to assess your level of trustworthiness
• Whether trust can be taught