Try Gaining TrustAs I scrolled through my morning dose of RSS feeds, humor, and motivating articles I came across a post by Seth Godin in which he talks about the blatant mistrust that is “inherent in the system” (hat tip to “Dennis“). He describes his experience while setting up a friend’s PC recently and the barrage of trial software, default opt-in tricks, and roundabout ways of navigating software. (Simple solution: Go with Apple… “it just works.”) So often customers are conned into disclosing personal information, getting locked into an agreement, or paying more for additional (and often needless) products and services. In today’s consumer world, and society in general, nothing is valid at face value and [almost] always comes burdened with fine print. We have gone from being a people that can accept a man at his word to being constantly paranoid of everyone, continuously wary of a hidden loophole.
As Seth states, marketers (and business professionals in general) need to be in the business of building trust. One good example that I saw recently was in the movie Miracle on 34th Street (yes, it was the first time I have watched it) when Kris tells parents where they can purchase various Christmas presents for less than at the Coles deparment store. On the surface it initially looked like a foolhearty gesture, but it established trust among the customers. When Coles embraced this approach their sales shot up because of the confidence and trust that was established.
While communicating with a potential client today about one of their upcoming projects they had expressed some uncertainty about several factors involved. Unsure of whether or not they would be able to work with me on the project they inquired as to how much I would charge to refer them to another source or recommend an alternative solution. I told them I wouldn’t charge them anything! Yes, I would like the account. Yes, I would like the extra revenue. But my goal is not to create an imaginary monopoly on the types of services that we offer – it is to help further the best interests of our clients.
So instead of trying to gain the almighty dollar, try gaining a little trust…
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