The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines trust as "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something". In the real world, trust means different things to different people but it usually boils down to one thing: trust is critical to your success, both personally and professionally.
Our focus here is trust as a key to business success. It takes many forms during your various interactions with others, but it is always there, just under the surface, influencing and affecting your work and your leadership effectiveness. Building and maintaining trust is crucial because when it is there it helps you, but when it is not, it hurts you.
Trust and your employees Building trust with your employees means demonstrating every day that they can depend on you. It happens in small ways, like supporting a person’s efforts toward professional development or advocating for your department’s ongoing needs. It also happens in big ways, like maintaining employee confidentiality and communicating honestly about company issues. When there is mutual trust between you and your employees, performance improves.
Trust and your peers Think about your peers. There are a few that you can always trust, but some that are less reliable. You know who they are; they always have an excuse for missing a deadline, or never quite finish tasks completely or without error. Eventually you learn not to trust what they do or what they say because experience has taught you they are not trustworthy.
Are you one of those people? Be brutally honest with yourself. Chances are you already know if your peers view you as trustworthy or not. If the answer is not, then you must correct that facet of yourself to achieve long-term business success.
Trust and your boss When your boss has trust in you, chances are your career will flourish as long as your performance remains worthy of that trust. He or she is willing to support you, challenge you, and even mentor you, if you demonstrate trustworthy character and reliability. Building that trust with your boss takes time and consistency. You must fulfill your commitments, perform at high levels, and demonstrate your personal character and integrity.
If your boss does not have trust in you, it will translate into lost career opportunities. Perhaps you’ll be given only a minor role in that great new project, or maybe you will not be selected when someone is needed to fill in temporarily because the boss is out of town. Think about the many ways trust from your boss affects your success and start now to make behavioral changes if necessary.
Trust and your customers This is extremely important, because trust from your customers translates directly into dollars. How does this happen? Think about your own experiences as a customer when you trust a company to send a crucial part, deliver a package on time, or finish a project on time. If the company fulfills its commitment, you learn to trust them and will go back to them in the future. If the company does not fulfill its commitment, however, your trust in them diminishes and you are less likely to go back to them again.
Think carefully. Do you give your customers reason to trust you?
Summary Trust is an important part of your success. It occurs in many different ways across your professional life, affecting your business relationships and ultimately your business performance. When you pay attention to building trust, as a critical component of your leadership development, through every interaction you become better equipped to achieve whatever goals you set for yourself.
Does your marketing net you as much as you'd like? Do your ads help you generate lucrative prospects weekly and monthly? Are you able to convert leads into paying clients with your marketing?
If the answer is no, then maybe you aren't expressing your trustworthiness enough. No one in the world will every buy anything from you if they don't trust that your products and services will do what you say they will do.
Do the words and images you use in your marketing help establish the trust necessary to convince prospects to believe in and buy from you? If not, then you'll benefit from the following strategies geared toward converting prospects to clients.
1. PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF YOUR CLIAMS Rather than making impersonal and dramatic claims of what your products or services do, use examples. Examples are far more believable. A case study is an ideal way to explain exactly what you did for someone and the difference it made in their life or their business.
2. GIVE THINGS AWAY FREE Giving things away free is a great way to build trust. You can give anything, like a keychain, your grandma's prized apple pie recipe, an e-book or article. Giving something to people, regardless of the cost, makes them more likely to trust you and even to return the favor by buying something from you.
3. PUT OUT ARTICLES INSTEAD OF ADVERTISEMENTS Being inundated with advertisements 24/7 has instilled in us a deep distrust of ads. We tend to believe instead what we read in published articles. Rather than putting out countless ads, your time would be better spent writing articles. This establishes you as an expert who is willing to help, rather than a company trying to get people's credit card information for the sole purpose of making money.
4. TESTIMONIALS, TESTIMONIALS, TESTIMONIALS Convince your target that you're worth what you say by showing them what past clients have said about you. These are called testimonials, and if you aren't using them you're missing a key ingredient in your marketing and advertising. They're not hard to get. Just contact some past clients, ask what they thought of your product or service, what they liked about it and how it was helpful. Then, edit their comments, ask for their permission to use their edited words, and use this material in your marketing and ad campaigns.
5. SPEAK DIRECTLY TO YOUR TARGET MARKET In this industrial-economic empire that we call America, with skyscrapers and big multibillion dollar companies all around us, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that we're all human. So a common misperception is that in order to sound credible your marketing should be cold and impersonal. Instead of trying to act stuffy and distant, you should do the exact opposite. People do business with people, not steel buildings and dry corporate entities. Show photos of yourself and your staff, talk directly to your target market, explain in human terms why they should trust you, be passionate and have a bit of personality.
6. GET AS MANY REFERRALS AS POSSIBLE What is the first thing you do when you need an accountant, plumber, doctor, lawyer or web design company? You ask a friend for a referral, don't you? Why? Because you trust the recommendations of friends, family and people you know. For your own business, instead of waiting for the occasional referral, implement a system to generate referrals. Use the "I'll wash your back if you wash mine" approach. It usually works, as long as you partner with companies you know provide good products or services.
7. EXCHANGE ENDORSEMENTS This is a proven strategy for doubling your marketing reach without paying a penny. Simply team up with a local business you trust and that also targets your market. Ask the company if it's OK if you use an endorsement of your company's products and services. In exchange, you do the same for them. While a personal referral is ideal, a company endorsement also adds a lot of weight to your claims.
8. KEEP IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH HOT LEADS Clients or potential clients who you see and talk to daily or weekly or even monthly are usually the ones you trust the most and who trust you the most. You've developed a rapport with each other and during this process you've established one thing that's crucial for your business and you've established trust. Communicating with them regularly is a good way to continue to develop and even build on this trust.
9. REDUCE YOUR TARGET MARKET'S RISK WHEN BUYING FROM YOU What's your biggest concern when purchasing a product or service? Most people are worried that the product or service will not perform the way they hope. How can you prove to people that the claims you make in your marketing are true? Provide a guarantee. Also, outline clearly and carefully the value you provide and state your commitment to making sure that your product or service will not only reach but exceed their expectations.
10. MAKE CONTACTING YOU EASIER Don't leave it up to your clients to try to figure out how to get in touch with you. Show them how by making it easy as 1-2-3 for them. Put your website, phone number, and email address at the top of your website or marketing materials. Include a call to action, which most people forget. This means tell them to call, write or visit your website. Don't leave it up to them because more often than not they will not make the first move.
In summary, the best way to convert your target market into leads and leads into clients is to build trust. These ten marketing strategies help form the foundation of the trust you'll need to convince people that you aren't just out for their credit card numbers, but that you truly and sincerely want to help their business.
Beware. If this is not truly your attitude, that you really want to help people with the product or service you provide, then you may just want to skip marketing and go straight to filing for Chapter 11 now. Why? Because although it's true that there's a sucker born every minute, sooner or later people are going to get hip to your song and dance and word will spread to stay away from you. In that case, all the marketing and advertising secrets in the world won't help you.
Both Susan West & Richard Cagney are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Susan West has sinced written about articles on various topics from Modelling, Personal Growth and Halloween Costumes. Visit for a wealth of leadership development information. Susan West has held many executive leadership positions during he. Susan West's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.
Richard Cagney has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Internet Marketing and Kitchen Home Improvement. Richard Cagney heads the SEO/SEM division of the All Access Unlimited (. Richard Cagney's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.