The story goes something like this….Need to plan a weekend trip….I have selected my destination and now I quickly look at TripAdvisor to read reviews on the hotels I am considering.
NB: This is an opinion by Bob Gilbert, CEO of Captivation Marketing.
Reviews from strangers that lead us to make a purchase decision. The power of social media, content and search…all wrapped up with a nice little bow.
We trust strangers’ reviews, but ultimately it’s TripAdvisor we trust. It is TripAdvisor that, over time, built and earned this trust.
How did TripAdvisor gain this incredible trust factor?
Trust builds better and faster results. Everyday new businesses emerge all focused on speed to market. But without the trust factor many are doomed.
What should we be doing to build trust? Consider these ideas, whether you're starting out with a business or just as a reminder of how important it can be.
1. Keep it personal
Treat your customers as individuals, which they are. Mass marketing died in the last century. Mass personalization took over.
The more you can personalize and individualize the customer experience the faster you will win their trust and their business.
Take a look at yourself.
What do you think others would say about you? Are you sincere, reliable, respectful and dependable.
2. Transparency
Being open and honest will stand you in good stead. You don’t have to remember lies or half truths. Keeping honest is much easier than the alternative.
If something goes wrong admit it and resist the temptation to spin. You will get found out and it is difficult to climb out of that slippery hole you dug for yourself.
3. Clarity
Has somebody ever said to you…”Well, technically…….” and whatever follows you know is a spin.
You have be straight forward and squeaky clean to quickly gain trust. Use language that is unambiguous.
Language that cannot be misunderstood. It is not as easy it sounds.
4. Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk
The cliché has been around a while but its message is extremely relevant in building trust.
Always deliver on your promise no matter how small or how big. A wedding vow is a huge life altering commitment.
Honoring your commitments in business is a significant factor that builds an incredibly strong reputation.
Good reputations travel fast these days due to the viral dynamics of our social networks (i.e. TripAdvisor) further cementing and building trust driven by an independent social army.
5. Integrity
Being responsible and accountable will go a long way in building integrity. Integrity is one of the key pillars of trust.
Having integrity in business means that you have values and guiding principles. Nordstrom’s taught the world about integrity and values.
They built fiercely loyal customers because Nordstrom’s listened to them and served them, no matter what. Integrity is a passion. It is part of the Brand personality.
Summing up
We recall Robert De Niro and the Byrnes family Circle of Trust from the 2000 movie Meet the Parents.
As De Niro explained to Ben Stiller, and I paraphrase……
"If I can’t trust you, then I will have no choice than to put you outside the Circle of Trust and once you are out Greg, you are out, and there’s no coming back. You will never get back in."
In business, as in our personal lives, trust takes time to build but can be shattered in a New York minute.
Trust recovery is painful and never easy but if you find that you have over committed or cannot meet a promise or deadline, be the first person to immediately communicate the problem personally, apologize face to face or at least over the phone.
Never with an email.
Make a new promise and be 100% confident that you can keep that promise "as advertized".
It’s no wonder there are many companies that have built a business around reputation management!
Much needed by businesses like AIG, BP, Goldman Sachs, and a longer list of celebrities such as Charlie Sheen, Pee Wee Herman, George Michael, Hugh Grant, Paula Deen, Tiger Woods, Lindsay Lohan, Lance Armstrong…
OK enough, I hear you say (as you add more to this list.)
You can trust me when I say that it is better to actually demonstrate trust than talking about trust. Trust, after all, is earned and needs to be part of your DNA.
NB: This is an opinion by Bob Gilbert, CEO of Captivation Marketing.
NB2: Trust travel image via Shutterstock.