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What makes us trust other people?
Trust Builder Platform

What makes us trust other people?

Sura Aydin
November 23, 2022


Introduction: What is Trust?

Trust is the feeling of being able to rely on someone or something. It is a belief that someone or something is honest, has integrity, and will not cause harm. Trust can be built by showing honesty, reliability, stability, and consistency. Trust is an important part of any relationship, and it can be earned by being honest in your words and actions.

What Makes Us Trust Other People in Business?

Trust is the foundation of any relationship. Without it, we would never feel safe or comfortable with another person. In business, trust is a key component to success. It's what separates good organizations from great ones.

Many factors influence whether or not we trust someone in a business context: how they dress, how they speak, how they act, and what they say. But the most critical factor is their past performance and behavior. We tend to trust people who have proven themselves to be trustworthy in the past, and we are more likely to trust people who share our values and beliefs than those who don't.

How to Build Trust with Your Customers and Employees?

It is difficult to find a company that the trust crisis has not impacted in the current business environment. This section will show how companies can rebuild trust with their customers and employees.

The first thing you need to do is to create transparency. It may sound cliché, but it's true: if you want your customers or employees to trust you, be transparent about your actions and decisions. Transparency is essential to building trust with your customers and employees because it helps them understand your motivations and intentions.



The 7 Essential Elements of Trust in Business


1. Clarity


People don't trust the complicated or the ambiguous. They do trust the simple and straightforward. In this way, it is important to create a clear marketing message. So that you can deliver your service without causing any complications.

This is the value of segmentation and specialization. You can deeply understand a customer's lived experience to understand their problems. The businesses that grow fast have clarity about the needs they provide. Making the customer put extra effort into understanding you will lead to ambiguity. Rather than that, simply conveying what you do provides clarity. Because when you speak in their language, it's crystal clear, and they trust you more. The clarity in this context also extends to your employees. They need clarity of expectation, and once they have this, trust will follow.

2. Compassion


People tend to trust others who care beyond themselves. If you feel that someone is not curious about your experiences, you may not trust them. From a business perspective, this is reflected in the rise of purpose-led businesses. It's one reason behind their success. For instance,  TOMS footwear donates shoes to disadvantaged children for every other pair sold. This sympathetic marketing strategy has contributed to their growth. Implementing socially responsible work in your business is important, like contributing to the environment, which will make your image more trustable.

3. Competency


Competency is an elementary factor in trust. People will trust you if you can prove your competency in your promises. Usually, companies write white papers and case studies to show their competency. There are also other ways to show that, for example, partnering with your customers to promote your product to their contacts in their industry.


4. Commitment

Being committed to what you believe and being able to stay in the event of any negativity presents a reliable and trustable image of yours. Showing you are doing the right thing in time builds trust. Your company will gain credibility if it commits to a cause: combating climate change, ending educational poverty, or boosting diversity. This differs from compassion. You are devoted to something bigger than yourself but care deeply about it.

5. Connection


Companies need leading people who can make connections and are good at collaborating to grow successfully. The primary feature of such people is that they can trust each other and so that they can work together. All in all, good teamwork represents a higher level of social organization and the ability to share knowledge to build more vigorous work. The connection usually develops around company culture. Companies that focus on their employees and customer satisfaction evolve into successful businesses.


6. Contribution

Delivering the information along with statistics is more convincing and would make you more trusted in whatever you do in business. Yet, this is only sometimes true on the personal level. So, from a marketing perspective, you must prepare your content with evidence if you are talking about industry-specific examples. Which also builds credibility and clarity. 


In the same vein, you must make it simple for employees to demonstrate their contribution. It's crucial since doing so will increase confidence in them and their skills. KPIs and OKRs can be really helpful. People will feel accomplished when they complete one or two weekly goals if they are aware that they are working toward them. In addition to increasing their sense of confidence in their abilities, this will also make them happy. Make a structure so that your personnel may show their accomplishments.

7. Consistency

It may seem tedious, but doing the same thing, day in and day out, will increase trust. Consistency is the only way to build a brand and a customer base. We can even phrase that people will even trust people who are making the same mistake as long as they consistently do it.


AUTHOR
Sura Aydin

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