Trust: Synthesized
The only real way to last in on-demand
By Gal Corfas, CMO @ ClipCall
Instant trust is the ‘social glue’ that’s helping the
on-demand economy change the face of business.
On-demand apps are not slowing down. With everything from massages, to room rentals, to cuddling, the “sharing economy” is running strong. Most of these app-based service transactions involved require a large degree of trust. Whereas consumers used to look for established businesses to minimize their risk, more and more people reach out to communities of service providers to participate in ‘collaborative commerce’ that at the end of the day involves putting yourself out there and trusting strangers.
Many services minimize consumer adversity with “vetted professionals”, “money back guarantees” and “background checks”. By and large, they ask consumers to take a major leap of faith: invite someone unknown to you into your lives and homes.
So why is this working well? Maybe millennials are more trusting than previous generations of consumers? According to Harvard’s Institute of Politics, they may be less trusting, especially when it comes to institutions.
The real reason behind the success of the on-demand economy is not the trusting nature of consumers. It’s the ability to produce an immediate reward in intrinsic benefits to both parties, from transactions conducted within an environment that improves with a high degree of trust.
Trust Builds Real Relationships
For one, taking this leap of faith shifts the economy from a culture of “me” to a culture of “we”. Instead of dealing with faceless corporations and customers, individuals are essentially transacting directly with one another, while the corporations supply the ecosystem. Though this does increase the risks, when it works out, the process of a successful transaction creates long term business opportunities between both parties.
Trust fuels our desire for social affirmation
Take Airbnb for example: What made millions of users give up the security of hotels or hostels to take a risk staying in a stranger’s home? I mean besides AirBNB’s amazing ability to turn a set of apartment pictures into an attractive offer, their “guarantee” of quality and reviews, and the pricing with which hotels could not compete? It’s the community you become a part of, either as traveller or host.
Kickstarter was also a significant landmark similar — funders take a risk by supporting unknown entities based on little financial data, but they become more than silent investors. They get to really know the makers, inventors, and entrepreneurs behind projects. Individuals within the sharing economy are increasingly bypassing the security of faceless brands in favor of transacting with and getting to know real people and building real community.
Payback is a glitch
Just as far and high as a cool service that solves a real pain can make an on-demand service successful, failing to fulfill the trust created is a deal breaker, and a painful one at that. Failed attempts will not get a second chance. Once services become huge like Uber, they can have slipups and fix them. But if Uber drivers did not deliver on promise in their early stages, they would never have gotten there.
Trust can now be evaluated, quantified and traded
Today, every business or service provider that exists online has a “trail of trust” — they are rated, reviewed, commented on, and interact with millions of consumers. Over the next decade, we will see a standardization of ratings into a few dominant platforms. The next step is a “trust API” where service providers can be identified and recommended for any website, app or billboard.
Collaboration can and should also exist between all on-demand service platforms, apps and directories to rate faster, bigger and better, and remove trust from the negative side of the equation.
Gal Corfas = CMO @ ClipCall.
Disruption = Simplification.
ClipCall is a real-time mobile video platform for hiring any local service on demand.
To join the ClipCall US Beta: click here.
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Follow Gal on LinkedIn/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Medium.com
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