How to 3x Your Sales: Building the Trust Funnel

Patrick McGuire, Chief Revenue Officer at Kompound, unpacks a trust-first system for scaling sales. He shows how short videos, tailored one-to-one demos, and service-led follow-through turn credibility into revenue, and why involving customer success early keeps wins compounding long after the close.

In this article, Patrick McGuire, Chief Revenue Officer at Kompound, explains the Trust Funnel, a value-first sales method that prioritizes people over pitches. His rule is simple: give value before asking for anything. As Patrick says, “You do need to build trust and give great value upfront. You need to overdeliver after that.” Only after that does he invite the next step: “Then you need to say, Hey, why don’t we do some business together?” The goal is to lower pressure, raise confidence, and build momentum toward a fit that feels mutual.

“I really believe that the secret sauce is trust. It’s doing business the way it’s supposed to be done. If I can’t trust you, we can’t do business, it’s not going to work, and you’re not going to close deals. So, I believe the way to 3, 5, 10x your sales is by gaining trust, sharing, loving, and giving excellence to people whenever you get the chance. It’s that trust funnel.” – Patrick McGuire

Key Takeaways:

Lead with value first to earn trust and attention.
Show one solution that matches the buyer’s words.
Keep customer success involved to strengthen long-term confidence.

Listen to the full podcast or watch it on YouTube directly below.

Article: “How to 3x Your Sales: Building the Trust Funnel”

This article is based on an interview with Patrick McGuire, Chief Revenue Officer at Kompound

Trust Funnel Steps

Patrick uses short, personal videos to start the relationship. He sends a light touch, then goes a little deeper, and only later meets live. “The main thing we would do is drop maybe a 30 or 90-second video. They’d watch that and contact us. I’d send them a three-minute video and say What’s your biggest problem? Then I would send them a six-minute video. It worked because they saw our faces, my face, they heard my voice. It was as if we were together in the same room.” This builds comfort and shows care.

When interest is earned, Patrick shifts to a focused session that speaks the buyer’s language. “What’s the number one thing that you want to solve on this? If I show you that, give me a scenario or case study, and I’ll demonstrate it for you. And if I do that and solve your big problems, do we agree to move forward and perhaps consider an opportunity to work together?” They avoid generic pitches and solve one fundamental problem. “We actually listened, and instead of trying to shove our entire solution down their throat, we only focused on the one thing that they cared about, and that’s how they knew that they liked you, and they knew they could trust you not to try and sell them something. It is no longer a sale. They asked you for the ticket.”

Proof It Scales

Patrick’s model is not just feel-good. It performs. “We had 120 sales reps after the first year, and they did $1.7 million in sales of this product. One individual did $1.4 million in HR tech sales. They just stuck to my trust model, checked those boxes off, and achieved $1.4 million in HCM sales, compared to $1.7 million for 120 sales reps.” Results like this happen because friction is low and confidence is high. “We felt like friends, we answered their questions directly, and we only focused on the one thing that they cared about. They knew they could trust you not to try to sell them something.”

Trust continues after the close. Patrick makes customer success part of the buying journey. “We made our customer success reps actually part of the sales cycle. So, our customer success team could really close the sale if they wanted to, but we had them kick it back to the sales rep because they established trust in the beginning, then the trust gets stacked by the backend, the customer support.” His standard is clear. “If I can’t trust you, we can’t do business. If I can’t trust you, we can’t even sign an agreement to work together. You’re not going to close deals.”

Human First, Tech That Helps

Patrick uses technology to amplify human connection. He places messages where trust already exists. “I would put my three-minute video ad in front of their influencer. We borrowed from their trust, we inserted our trust, and we gained trust with them. They then clicked on our thing, and it went to a 30-minute video webinar.” He reminds teams to keep people at the center. “Why are we talking about the human in the loop? Shouldn’t it be the AI in the loop?” He gives before he asks. “I’m going to get on and give you a 30-minute session where I’m going to give you some great nuggets, some minor strategies, and I’m not going to ask you for a thing. If we like each other, we should probably talk about a strategy session for an hour. I’m going to let them ask me to engage.”

This filters for mutual fit. “YouTube delivers leads. They decide if they want to engage with you. You get to engage with them. Then you get to decide, should we work together or not?” Inside the team, trust is cultural and operational. “My word is my bond. That’s what trust is. And relationships.” The steps are steady and repeatable. “From the first 90 seconds to the three-minute video, they told us. We sent them that specific product to review. Then a one-to-one session.” The tone stays generous. “No strings attached. Let’s just talk. Let’s see if we can trust each other.” Patrick sums it up this way. “Serve others. If you serve others, you will build trust and a relationship. Serve them, build the trust, and do great things with great people.”

Conclusion

Trust is the system that powers Patrick McGuire’s funnel. Lead with value, solve one fundamental problem, and keep customer success close. Keep humans at the center and let tech extend your reach. Most of all, protect integrity. “You can’t fake trust. You either trust them or you don’t. Your gut is usually right.”

ELEVATING CONTENT MARKETING STANDARDS RAISES A CRUCIAL QUESTION:
Why shouldn’t the very act of creating thought leadership content also spark new conversations with in-pipeline deals, top prospects, and high-priority customers for revenue expansion? Or serve as the cornerstone for learning and applying voice-of-customer strategies? That’s the power of ABM Podcasting—engaging B2B buyers and customers in meaningful conversations that uncover essential go-to-market insights, support long sales cycles, reinforce your market perspective, build peer-level trust, and dismantle objections that kill deals.

Steven MacDonald

Steven MacDonald is the founder of Content Strategies, CEO of a MarTech SaaS Company, fractional CMO consulting with leading B2B companies and former Director of Strategy and Client Service at top ten digital marketing agencies.

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.

Steven MacDonald

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.