Trust

 

I have been to a lot of trust building workshops and at each one, a single message grabs my attention: trust is earned. This is an interesting concept at these workshops because often you are trust falling to someone you have just met. Despite all of that, trust is earned, but can be earned in just one meeting.

I am a ballroom dancer and, as a result, I have to put a lot of trust into my dance partner. When we do aerials (jumps/dips/throws) I have to trust that I won't be dropped. Well, I have been dropped and once that happens, my trust for that partner diminishes. I also took a stage combat class, where I needed to trust people not to accidentally stab me or punch me in the face. Again, lots of trust that needs to be earned quickly.

You are probably wondering why I am bringing up these examples, and I can tell you that I am just using them to demonstrate that I know a lot about what it means to trust someone with your well-being. With that said, I would like to talk about marketing (go figure!)

The idea of trust applies to marketing (obviously), but in an interesting way. Even if a company spends years building trust, one negative incident can destroy that trust. Sometimes, however, trust does not need to be built up over years, but can be earned with one brilliant act. This, in my opinion, is where marketing communications comes into play.

Think briefly about what companies you trust. Think now about how those companies earned your trust. For me, a lot of the faith I hold in companies comes from how I see them and what I hear about them. I trust companies that I don't even interact with. I trust companies that I know nothing about. Why do I trust them? Simple. I trust them because in some quick, smart way they earned it. They earned it by being honest in the communications or by providing a product that worked. They earned by having good customer service when I needed most. They earned it by being there when I needed them most.

Companies that can respond and react to consumer trends and concerns earn trust extremely quickly. This trust will build into loyalty and will be reflected in sales. Trust is a powerful mechanism for generating revenue and for any company, the potential return on investment outweighs cost to employ trust building systems.

So, why does trust building work? It works because it allows you to prove yourself, because if you don't, what kind of person are you? What kind of company are you? That is only something you can answer.