Management Advancement Tools: Sales Force × Trust Power

Two camps, one problem

Huxiu (虎嗅) recently ran a strategic reflection on a familiar split in Chinese startups: the product-focused "scientist" team versus the battle-hardened "sales" veterans. One side obsessively polishes technology and recoils from selling; the other can hunt down new customers but struggles to keep them. The result? Fast customer acquisition with high churn, or technically excellent products without market traction. Which is the bigger risk: failing to close the deal, or closing deals that don't stick?

Sales first, trust next

The Huxiu piece argues bluntly that both capabilities are essential but must be sequenced: build sales strength to survive, then build trust to endure. Sales is framed as the survival engine — not cheap talk, but professional diagnosis and solution-selling — while trust is the long-term asset that turns buyers into repeat customers and advocates. The article cites a McKinsey-style “trust formula,” reportedly used by consultants to decompose trust into credibility, reliability and low self-orientation, and it has been reported that Deloitte data shows high-trust companies can outperform peers by as much as 400% in market value.

Why this matters now

For Western readers: Chinese startups are often engineer-led and under intense pressure to show growth or liquidity. Add geopolitical headwinds — US-China tech tensions and tighter domestic regulation — and the calculus changes: resilience and deep customer relationships matter more than ever. Huxiu’s prescription is practical. Prioritise sales capability in the early, life-or-death phase; once survival is secured, shift resources to institutionalise trust through reliable delivery, credible expertise and customer-centric motives. When sales force and trust power multiply, scaling sustainably stops being a slogan and becomes a strategic reality.