Let’s face it, people do business with people – not with businesses. A business owner may like, want and need something that a marketing coach, for instance, offers. But the single biggest reason they hire the firm is because of the people they meet, talk to and build relationships with.
Why?
Well, people want to be in relationships. They want to feel connected to the people they work with. In some way, at least, the business owner wants to trust that the marketing coach really cares about them, their business and helping them solve their problems.
Sure there are other things business owners look for before they sign a check – like competence, professionalism, knowledge, previous results, etc. But ultimately, the relationship will be one of trust.
The New Oxford American Dictionary lists trust as: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone.
Think about it…aren’t these the qualities you want in your business relationships? So do your clients. So how can you build greater trust with your target audience?
- David Airey’s 5 Easy Steps to Building Trust Online
- Naive by Design’s How to Build Trust Online
- Susan West’s Building Trust is Key to Business Success
- Greg Balanko-Dickson’s Business Blogging Strategy: Build Trust and Rapport
- Marius Wlassak’s Earning Customer Trust Online
- Paul Sarvadi’s Building Profitability by Building Trust
- Shonnie Lavender’s Building Trust With Your Business Blog
- Beautify’s Building Trust in Your Business Relationships – 10 Steps
- Michelle Howe’s Earning Customer Trust Online
Here’s some examples of how others are building greater trust with their audience. How do you?
Hi Dawud,
Great post and thanks for all those links!
Trust is certainly key for my biz, not just that my clients need to trust me, but they need to trust me with their babies and children, their parenting and their deepest, close to the heart issues.
I look forward to reading the links more, and building more of it. I have been wondering if my target market is just not online as much, and to focus on local folks so I can be in person. It seems to work well, but I want both.
Thanks for the help.
Relationships are king Dawud. We are all people, human beings with the same basic needs and desires. We need interaction with others and thrive in strong, mutually-beneficial relationships. It should not be surprising then, that these same traits will be evident in our business personas as well! Super article. Happy Independence day!
Hi Dawud
Strangely enough (but I’m really proud of it) we recently had a customer – a stranger in our eyes – in our showroom who within 3 minutes selected and paid for his floor. Normally a customer stays for at least 10 – 20 minutes to ask questions, get advice etc etc etc so we can build a conversation and relationship before the real decision making even starts!
Apparently – after we asked how or where this very quick customer had first heard from us – he had based his trust on all our advice he had read on one of the DIY-forums we involve ourselves with – free advice with, when appropriate a link to our own websites.
So it sometimes is down to ‘virtual’ trust building – without a conversation 😉
(Still hope more of these customers will follow ;-))
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Daniel,
True…very true. For years I’ve held this position that we hire a business really because we like and trust the person we interact with from that business. Much the same that we build friendships.
Karin,
I understand. I probably give too much information for my prospects sometimes. But it always seems to pay off somehow. I guess I’ve learned over the years that it’s in the giving that we get back.
Great example of that.
It’s not a wonder I’m a great fan of ‘Givers Gain’ 😉
It works, time after time after time…
Karin H.
Thanks for linking to my post, Dawud. You link through to some great others too.
My latest post about blog psychology mentions the blog addiction survey you took. I scored exactly the same percentage that you did. 😉
Karin,
Ah, I’ve not heard of Givers Gain. Will look at it now. Thanks.
David,
Yeah, it was fun putting this post together. I’m heading over to check out your latest post right now. Thanks.
Dawud: Thanks for this post and the great list of resources. I definitely look to you as a shiny example of someone who is walking the talk when it comes to building trust with your target audience. Thanks for leading the way!
Great post! You do prove a point that sometimes business is about creating relationships with your customers. Thanks for the list of resources
Thanks for the link Dawud. The post you wrote is a perfect example of one way to build trust–highlighting others instead of simply keeping the spotlight to yourself. I look forward to visiting the other links in your post. Peace.
Ed,
Thanks. I’m really into blogging for the conversation and relationships. And building trust is a huge part of that.
Dylan,
It’s hard for me to believe that your target market isn’t online. My guess is that they’re either missing your site or missing your message – or both.
Personal Finance,
Thanks. I actually feel that business is almost always about building relationships. Maybe always, I just don’t like absolute statements.
Do you feel there are times when business is not based on relationship? Other than product/retail, of course.
Shonnie,
Absolutely. The businesses I’m personally drawn to most are those that are sincerely interested in me as a person. They want to solve my problems to make my life or business better, not just take dollars out of my wallet.
Even large companies, like Apple, fit the bill in that they’re interested in better, more efficient and enjoyable user experiences. I’m for that.
Dawud,
congratulations on being picked by the editor of blawgreview for inclusion in the Carnival of Trust. I didn’t know most of the trust references you cite here, so it’s very valuable to me.
Thanks for this fine content.
Charles,
Thanks. I’ll look for the carnival post.
I think it works very much like in the “real” world. The new if of the web, and now we are all humans again:-)
hypotheek,
Yeah, we can use the technology to build relationships with each other – people meeting people.
Agree with you on this item! We do business with people. This we can adjust our target audience on a special way.
hypotheek,
It really can. I’ve found it always important to remember that business is about relationships.
keeping the relation close to your audience is the most important thing for those that are dependant on their audience. And that is ….in most of the cases
Thanks for the post it will be of great help for all of us.
boete,
It is. So what’s one thing you do that effective at building trust with your audience?
hypotheek,
Sure. What did you get most from it?
Especially when you think about post rationalism before someone makes a decision. Together with having already a good relationship this makes 1+1=3!
Where 3 stands for a good transaction 😉
geld,
Yeah, exactly. So what if 1 + 1 still equaled 2?
That’s why I like that you have a picture of yourself here, so everyone can see who you are. It makes it very personal.
Thanks, I found this article useful Dawud when I was writing an article about building trust online.
1 factor that I found that seems to be different to the sources that you mention is the way some companies use extortionate pricing as a means of communicating they have a highly superior service/product offering.
Thank you very much for the articles. I find them very informative. Specially Susan West’s article. Keep up the good work!
It will be of great help for all of us. Thanks for the post.
Regards,
Angela
This is a very useful post. Not everybody knows the importancy of having a large group of regular visitors. Thanks for pointing it out! Regards.
Thanks! Very valuable the list of resources. Especially the article from Paul Sarvadi’s on entrepreneur.com is very nice. regards, Jasper
Building trust always has proven to be a very important step. How else is someone going to do the thing you want.
True, people often forget that it’s all about relationship. Just think of how many people are willing to buy at a certain shop, even though it’s more expensive, just because they treat customers nicer. The same with a user-friendly online business.
Nice post, very useful examples and congratulations for your excellent Job building of trust is must for build a relationship with target audience.
Business = creating relations!
I agree with vansschoenen. Although it seems easy, its harder than you think. Creating a good relation requires alot of time and work!