Trust me — I´m naked
Especially in these earth-shattering days, it becomes obvious to everybody of us, that it is very important to know whom you can trust and whom you can´t. Every day, everybody of us has to take decisions, which can change life completely.
Should I go out or should I stay home?
Do I go by bus or by car?
Do I cross the main station or choose another way to work taking 15 minutes longer?
Do we fly on vacation to Egypt, to Thailand, to Bali or do we go to the “safe” Netherlands´ beaches nearby?
And what about the upcoming carnival season in Germany? We, inhabitants of Cologne, the most beautiful city in Germany, love celebrating carnival in the streets with million others from around the world. But I´m pretty sure, it will be different this year. Can you imagine that German police recommends not to wear policemen or Indian costumes and not wearing any weapon dummies? I can´t. But it´s real.
The naked salesman
Imagine, you want to buy a new car. You want an Audi A4 Variant in black and with some nice gadgets inside. Nice. Finally after weekends of calculating and comparing models and prices, you take your wife and your two kids on a Saturday and visit the big Audi center in the city center. You cross the entrance, feeling blind by all the big polished cars around you. Good atmosphere to get rid of a lot of money. And good news, your pocket is full of your savings of the last 3 years and you´re really keen on buying a f*cking awesome Audi now. Great.
Behind the service desk is a man watching you and bidding you a really warm welcome. Obviously, he is a very groomed man. Short black hair, green eyes and a well-trimmed 3-day beard. The color of the perfectly knotted tie fits perfect to the color of his very expensive glasses. A typical trustworthy salesman.
But before your two kids start laughing out loud and your wife starts plucking your jacket, you start recognizing it by yourself. He is naked. Just wearing glasses and a tie. Neither trousers or a well-ironed business shirt, nor underwear. #OMG.
Ok, keep calm. What do you do? Maybe he forgot to wear completely in the morning? Maybe we should give him a sign because he has not recognized by himself what happened to him? No, not really.
After the first shocking seconds without saying anything, you have to do something now. Take a decision. Do you trust him? Do you think there is still the chance to make a good deal for you? It is definitely strange, but from the psychological point of view, a naked man has nothing to hide and plays completely with an open card deck. From the other side, a naked salesman is not trustworthy and makes you feel uncomfortable, right? No clue what do.
Can I trust you?
Making trust decisions is a challenge. All day, again and again, your gut instincts has to to answer the question “Can I trust this or that?”
Good news. Usually, human beings develop some hints in a life time to make your gut instincts more reliable.
Personal relationships — You can trust your family and your best friends. Always, right? But why? Easy, because you know each other such a long time and there is no reason cheating each other. But bad horror scenarios like snatching the girlfriend of the best friend or heritage fights within the family, show that there are some more points.
Recommendations — If you ask a friend or a working mate if he or she can recommend this or that, you will trust the answer, right? Why? Because you know that your friend has some expertise in exactly this field for whatever reason. Easy. The other way around — you won´t ask a friend who has never done any sports, which shoes are the best to finish a marathon, right?
What do you do if you don´t know somebody personally who could help you? You ask often your friends if they know somebody. Or you starting searching the internet to find some reviews or testimonials on amazon or review websites like trustbadge.com.
Social Proof — The same principle works today on millions of websites without a personal relationship. They say “We have more than 10.000 positive customers, that gave us a 5-star review.” This shows the new visitor of the website, there are tons of people before you, that were very satisfied. Means, you can trust them. Remember the Lemmings.
A friend of a friend — There is a party. And your best friend brings a new working mate with him. Do you trust him? I´m pretty sure you do, because of the reason, that you trust your best friend. You are pretty sure, that he never would bring a gangster-minded person with him to your party, right? Maybe the night will show the difference, this can happen as we all know.
Education — The way your parents taught you how to get to know new people is, honestly, one of the most important points in terms of taking good trust decisions. “Don´t step into a car of a foreigner.” All children in Germany know that sentence because they hear it again and again.
Tell your goals — If you know what is the goal of the other party you are dealing with — it makes you much more comfortable. If the naked salesman can give you some proofs why this car is the best car for and the price is a good deal for both sides, you will close the deal. If you have the feeling that it is much too cheap — you will have doubts, right?
Reliability — Nobody wants to deal with a liar. To hold what you promise is a very important rule to make people around, trust you. In german, we say “Don´t believe in somebody who has lied ones, because he will do it again.” Sounds stupid in English, but you know what I mean.
Courtesy —The server in the restaurant is in a really bad mood. Not politely, very slowly, rough and not making you feeling comfortable in total. But your steak with french fries is quite perfect. What rating would give the restaurant within a scale of 1–5 stars? I´m pretty sure not 5 and not 4, right? So it means, courtesy is another important point for being rated as trustworthy or not.
Appearance — The way you look like is, unfortunately, the most important point. You can only see what you see. And because of the reason you can´t see or hear what is somebody thinking your brain looks for other signs to judge someone's trustworthiness— like the styling, size, sex, clothes, skin, haircut and so on.
Finally, there is only one instance you can count on — the trust in your gut instincts, right? Gut instincts are influenced by individual characteristics, education, experiences, age, sex and thousands of more things…it depends.
Online there exist so many ways web site owners and especially eCommerce businesses try to convince their visitors that they are trustworthy. There are hundreds of psychological methods like using the Social Proof, artificial limitations or using famous authorities as brand ambassadors up to using external providers for certifications or customer reviews.
Being trustworthy is the key. Selling more, be a better friend, be a better partner, live easier, …Please continue the list if you like ;-)
