The One Customer Trust Mistake You’re Probably Making
Customer trust is a desirable and practical goal. As I noted in my previous post, the more your customers trust you, the more valuable the relationship will be and the faster you will be able to grow.
I also pointed out that trust is not a state. One common mistake companies make is to operate thinking that their customers either trust them or don’t. But the reality is that customers will trust you a little, a lot and to different degrees in between. Your customers may trust you for the things you are an expert on, but they may not trust you outside your expertise. It’s never as simple as a binary decision. Trust between businesses — like trust between humans — is complex and multidimensional.
If your business is experiencing success with customers, you probably think you’ve established a reputation for being the best at something, and based on that, your next customer should automatically trust you for that thing.
If you’re a Fortune 50 company, that is probably true. But for young, ambitious companies, that is far less true than they’d like to think.
Your Customers Will Not Trust You on Day One
Trust is a journey. If I tell you I have a brilliant product that will completely change the way you do business, you are likely to be skeptical. You might worry about the effects of change. You might be concerned that a new way of doing business will not serve your customers well. But most importantly, you might be thinking, “Why would I bet my entire business on this person making this claim?”
The map above shows of some of the concerns (worries, needs, aspirations) a typical sales executive might have. If you promise a prospect that your product will turn their company into a market leader (an unexpressed intention), you might be met with some skepticism. But if you promise you will help the company meet revenue targets (a promise), your prospect is likely to be interested enough to ask, “How?”
Once you make and consistently keep that promise, you may then be in a position to help make the sales team more effective (their future promise) and eventually help them build a marquee customer list (their declared intention). Then you have built the trust needed, and they may believe you can help make the company a market leader.
So what’s the big mistake you’re probably making?
You Are Asking Your Customer for a Level of Trust You Have Not Yet Earned
Here’s what that looks like: You have built a product and deep expertise in some particular area. You know you have a strong answer for a difficult problem. You pitch that to prospects, and everyone says, “That’s really interesting and valuable,” but none of them is willing to pay you for it. That means they like the idea, but you need to build trust.
Make promises lower on the map. Start with something less risky, and build from that. If you’re not sure, go back to the map, check your offering, and pitch against your prospect’s concerns.
You’re on the right track, you just jumped in too far down the line. You need to do the work to help your customer both value and trust you.
I’d love to hear your stories about how you’ve adjusted your offerings to build trust. And if you need help building your map or validating your offering against it, I’m here to help.
About the Author | Jeff Weinberger
DS3 Consulting founder Jeff Weinberger found his passion in helping organizations identify and develop critical, yet often overlooked, strategic opportunities. With a reputation for being innovative and, well, disruptive, he helps organizations maximize the value of their key relationships to create, adapt to and capitalize on disruption in their markets.
