Don't trust me... ...until you trust me.

Transparency vs Trust

As Business Development/Sales people we work long and hard to build trust with our target markets. There are many ways we can build this up before we even speak to a prospect. Weather it be demonstrating expertise and humility on LinkedIn, sharing existing client experiences for all to see, or giving potential clients an insight into our personal lives, in an effort to expose the person behind the job title. But alas, these things alone only scrape the surface of building a trusting relationship and fall more into the realms of building familiarity.

So, you walk into a meeting with a potential client and start spouting off cliché's like "We are your trusted provider" and "Trust us to provide the level of support your business needs" and frankly its all bulls*it and an unreasonable request of your prospective client.

The definition of trust is

To have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.

Trust is built on the basis the trustee has a firm belief in you/your companies ability to deliver on the promises you are making within your sales pitch/proposal. To have a firm belief in the actions of a person/company that you haven't had first hand experience of requires a huge amount of faith.

Now call me paranoid, but I wouldn't base the future of my companies IT operations on faith alone. This leap of faith is often bolstered by other factors like references, case studies and google reviews to name a few, but its still very much in the realms of faith.

"Trust is earnt over time, not asked for in a sales pitch."

Personally I never ask a potential client to trust me when we have never worked together before. Trust is earnt over time, not asked for it a sales pitch. The first step in building a trusting relationship is honesty, so start off by calling this out and explaining the above and why they; at this point, shouldn't trust you.

Wait, what!

Yes I did just say to walk into a prospective client meeting and tell them not to trust you.

Don't leave it there though. Explain to them that trust will be built up over time as a result of delivering on clearly defined actions. In order for them to see the evidence of this you are going to be completely transparent in everything that you do.

When you are transparent in your actions the client doesn't need to have as much trust in you, because they can see everything that is happening. It will put a new clients mind at ease that you are doing all the things you have agreed upon.

Being transparent does require a fair bit of extra effort on your part, not only in the additional communications required to demonstrate your actions, but also in ensuring that this does not become a box ticking exercise.

To ensure that this process holds real value for your client, they not only need to see what's happening, but also understand it. Don't forget you don't have trust yet, so they can't be expected to take you on your word for everything.

If like me the nature of your business is very technical, there is little point updating your client with minute technical intricacies, of which they will likely not understand, this is a waste of everyone's time. To overcome this, ensure your client understands your motives and reasoning behind your recommendations. This means they are not agreeing with you based on blind faith, but instead understand why you have come to this conclusion and are themselves making an informed decision.

"ensure your client understands your motives and reasoning behind your recommendations."

This means that you have effectively come to this conclusion together, through working in partnership collaboratively. The client will then be able to explain to other members of their team why you are doing what you are doing, whilst feeling empowered they have made the correct choice; both in working with you and the solutions you have recommended.

Now you are really delivering value to your client.

Trust will come over time, don't rush it. The high level of effort required in order to be transparent in everything you do will not be required as much in the months/years to come. As trust levels increase the required amount of transparency will decrease.

"Trust will come over time, don't rush it."

That being said, when larger decisions are being made or new solutions implemented always revert back to these techniques of being transparent and work with your client to help them make informed decisions. Its all too easy to become complacent with long standing business relationships, over assuming the level of trust your client has with you and falling on your own sword.

Work hard, be honest and never take clients for granted. There will always be someone waiting in the wings to take your place, don't let them.