Do Your Prospects / Customers Trust You?

[Evan]

Mark Drager is a Toronto based entrepreneur who created a new business in 2006 called Phanta Media. He was a startup entrepreneur who was trying to stand out in a very competitive market.

Fast forward to today and Mark is doing business with clients like Royal Bank (the 55th largest company in the world!) and Audi.

I asked Mark how he was able to build up a company out of nothing and he said “It’s all about building trust” – in a sales cycle where you may not have much personal contact you need to build trust with your prospects to get them to believe what you’re saying and sign on to do business with you.

Here are some of the key points:

* Attempts to break through the marketing-noise has taken a “tricky, even risky direction”
* Trustworthiness is built on operating principles that need to be demonstrated
* Focus on others (clients, consumers, co-workers, partners) for the other’s sake, not for economic benefits
* There’s something very appealing about working with a company that lays all its cards on the table and operates with full transparency
* Resist the urge to over-promise and stay true to your original, authentic values

You can view the full blog post at http://www.evancarmichael.com/blog/2009 ... trust-you/

And as always, let me know what you think by commenting below!

[Kevin Lee]

Hi Evan,

Would you be able to share with us how Mark signed his first customer (i.e. gained trust as a start up)?

[mdrager]

Hi Kevin,

Gaining trust as a start-up and building my list of clients was one of my greatest fears and challenges I had to overcome when launching the company. I would sit in front of prospects and pray that they didn't ask how long I was in business, how many people were in my company or what other companies I did work for.

After some time, I brought on staff, our client list grew, and my confidence grew. Looking back I think the best steps I took to overcome those initial fears could be summarized in a few points:

1. Leverage your existing contacts: If your new business is in any way remotely similar to what you have done in the past leverage past work and past contacts (in my case it took me over two years to work through my old contact list and sell something to - or get a referral from - almost everyone I had worked with in past roles). I also used past projects as examples of the work I could deliver (in my mind it was irrelevant if I did the work under the brand of a past employer. My work is my work whether it is for myself or another company).

2. Speak with confidence: This was a challenge for me at first but in time I came to realize that if you speak with confidence and have confidence in your abilities / products - the prospect will be less likely to worry about being the first client.

3. Have a good story: When you are out there in the first year hitting the streets, have a good story to tell about yourself - what your company is doing - what your vision is for the company. People buy from people - so even if you don't have a flashy office or a large staff - if you speak with confidence and a great story people will buy into it.

4. Be honest: You don't have to volunteer that you are a brand new company but if they ask - just be honest.

I hope these thoughts help -

Mark Drager

[mbrand2222]

This is so true. In the software business, if you don't earn their trust in the first few days they start implementing it, they tend to just give up on using it at all.....even if they may have lost a lot of money. With software, silly glitches can have a huge bearing on your newer clients. Especially if they are brand new to software in general. The more established users understand that when you are constantly building and developing the software, there are going to be glitches along the way. Trust is a must!

[Kevin Lee]

Hi Mark,

I appreciate you taking the time to outline your keys to earning customer trust as a start up. They're definitely points I'll keep in mind when I eventually look for my first customer to cater pastries for

[Kevin Lee]

if you don't earn their trust in the first few days they start implementing it, they tend to just give up on using it at all.....

Hi Mary,

It's the same with Evan's new authors. If they don't understand how to upload an article/use the article system, they may just give up and not even email me for help.

[MichelleJ]

if you don't earn their trust in the first few days they start implementing it, they tend to just give up on using it at all.....

Hi Mary,

It's the same with Evan's new authors. If they don't understand how to upload an article/use the article system, they may just give up and not even email me for help.

The problem when one does give up without even trying to get the help is that they never learn how to do whatever it is and so lose out in the end. If the help is offered as you do Kevin then anyone who doesn't use it when they are not sure what to do is losing out unnecessarily.

MichelleJ

[Ringo So]

* Attempts to break through the marketing-noise has taken a “tricky, even risky direction”
* Trustworthiness is built on operating principles that need to be demonstrated

I was wondering if anyone would be able to elaborate on those two points?

1) breaking through the marketing noise is always hard. how does a start-up go about doing that?
2) while being careful not to over-promise and under-deliver. aside from meeting and exceeding client expectations, how else can trust be built on operating principles?

specific examples would be great as well!

[Ryann]

2) while being careful not to over-promise and under-deliver. aside from meeting and exceeding client expectations, how else can trust be built on operating principles?

Hey Ringo,

Operating principles work as the supplement to the overall vision, and the core philosophy of a business.


Say your company's vision is " To be the leader in the xx industry and provide first-in-class services to members and employers".

It sounds great; but how will you get there? How will you ensure that everyone in your company works together towards the vision?

Operating principles provide a common direction for a business, giving guidance to all employees and encouraging alignment across the business - they define "the way you get things done".

Some common operating principles are "transparency", "Fairness", "accountability" and "openness", although they differ depending on the nature of a business. Operating principles ensure that while you are working towards your goal, your business and employees act ethically and commit to the highest standards of behaviour.

So, back to your question: Trust can be built when a business commits to its operating principles and act in a collective, and consistent fashion. Simply because it shows!

Hope this helps.

Ryann

[Ringo So]

Thanks Ryann, that does make a lot of sense.

I guess it's the "how to" behind the companies' vision and mission statement.

Maple Leaf Foods come into my mind, on the way they handled their Listeria outbreak incident.

The swiftness and diligence in their investigation and subsequent recall demonstrated a high standard of corporate social responsibility, even when it means admitting some fault on their part.

I think in the end it comes down to operating in a way that customers believe you're not just after economic benefits, and that builds trust!

[brokemet]

All good points everyone and I'm learning as I read through.

Gaining trust takes a lot of time and even if you're an expert or a startup in the field that you're promoting or excelling with, still, you have to put enough attention on how you'll be able to establish value among your prospects and customers by giving them what they need (contents, contacts, ventures, etc) and not only by offering them services and selling them products.

Thus, customers do trust us with the way we give them satisfaction first before they give something back in return.

[san]

It's funny, I've just been reading a very similar thread over on another forum. And though I'm a relative newcomer to the whole world of the Internet, I must admit that when I first came online a couple of years ago, I never saw mention of things like trust, honesty, relationship building....

I think it's much easier to build these up in the 'real' world, where you are dealing with people face to face. Unfortunately, it's much harder online. That's not to say it can't be done and as long as you abide by the same principles and are actually trustworthy and an honest person, then your customers and potential customers will realise that and spread the word.

I fully agree that you need to have confidence and you need to portray that confidence to your customers. If you aren't confident in your own abilities, then you cant really expect anyone else to have confidence in them.

However, once again, if you're looking to start up an online business, then it's easy to come across as being the greatest thing since sliced bread. All you need is a flashy looking website and lots of people will think you are legit and buy from you. Of course, you won't get much repeat custom so it's not really a good 'business' model as such.

Hopefully, most folks will realise that trust has to be earned. No matter what sort of business you're starting up, you can't just expect someone to trust you simply because you're asking them to.