Stop Chasing Prospects, Start Trusting-Building

Although unstated, prospective buyers always ask companies, “Can I trust you?” This question is woven into our primal need for survival.

But companies that cyberstalk prospects on the web start asking, “How can I get away from you?” This is the exact opposite of the desired response.

Here’s how to earn trust with five positive strategies.

Create Remarkability

Word of mouth (aka “referrals”) is the most potent form of marketing. When friends tell friends good things about your company, your business gets the benefit of close consideration.

Getting referrals depends on providing excellence. A company must be better than good: it must be literally remarkable. Making people feel unusually good about their purchase decision is the first step. Then, remarkability happens when you delight your customers by anticipating and exceeding their needs, wants, and unfulfilled wishes.

Offer Direct Interactions

For millennia, humans have trusted things they can see, feel, and sense for themselves.

When a clever company figures out how to create direct interactions, trust levels soar. These interactions can be as simple as giving people a sample, a free trial period, or an exploratory Zoom call. The more directly your prospects experience your company, the more they’ll trust you.

Build In Transparency

Restaurants that show their kitchen behind a glass wall are literally being transparent about how they prepare the food you’re about to eat. They’re showing without saying, “Trust us.”

When customers can see your process, understand your metrics, or know your intention, they’re inclined to trust your company.

Gain Public Acceptance

“I read good things about your company in the New York Times.”

Any media, from the New York Times to your local newspaper to a successful podcast, will build your “unaided awareness.” That’s the trust created by knowing your brand’s name and good reputation before you’ve been introduced.

Name recognition says that the public and the media have accepted who you are and what you do. This is the equivalent of a word-of-mouth endorsement.

Obsess Over Your “Collective Effect”

The collective effect of your brand is the culmination of your stories, presentations, mission, slogan, symbols, and offerings. Referred to as brand touchpoints, these account for how a prospect interacts with your brand.

The cleanliness of your store, the intuitive nature of your software, the clarity of your pricing models, your promised deliverables, the symbols and designs that represent your brand – all of this builds your collective effect.

Consistency creates a sense of safety. Companies that focus on the intent, impact, and carefully orchestrated design of their brand touchpoints can quickly gain customer trust because they have created a sense of safety by using consistency.

Trust is the social and emotional currency all businesses deal in. No trust = no customers. No trust = no employees. No trust = no sustainable business.

If you want a more trusting team, a culture of belonging or a magnetic brand that attracts more of the right customers, I can help. If you'd like to explore if working together makes sense, drop me a line.

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