Practical advice on building trust in a space company

Trust is essential for a business to survive, let alone thrive. We know this intuitively and we see the it proven out in our KPIs and analytics every day.

If you can become truly trusted by your clients and prospects in the industry, you'll have credit in the bank for any mistake, misconception or problem that comes your way.

And, of course, you can more easily build interest in new products and services that you bring to the market.

But building a trusted reputation is famously tough - and it's easy to lose. So here's some practical advice you can try out, based on what we've observed while interfacing with thousands of buyers and suppliers across the global space supply chain .

Ensure cross-channel consistency

In today’s industry a cohesive and comprehensive online presence is expected. And while you don’t need to be present on every platform out there, for some you will be conspicuous by your absence.

You should make sure you present pretty much the same company persona, in the same way, on each channel, while adjusting for the limits and nuances that they present.

Communicating a consistent vision, brand, and description of your organization across the web will help build trust - while also making you easier to remember.

So where should you do this?

Obviously, first up is your own website. Keep this accurate and keep it up to date. Give potential clients everything they need to assess how genuine you are and tweak the content if you get regular questions on certain topics.

Our own platform at satsearch.com is also an important channel to add your information on. This gives the entire market a clear and structured view of your whole portfolio, and you can get a basic profile right now for free .

The satsearch platform also integrates with the publicly-available NASA Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) search tools on nasa.gov , giving enhanced exposure to the US public and private market.

Next, there is?LinkedIn, the pre-eminent professional network. For many people, checking a company’s details on LinkedIn before a meeting is now almost automatic. So ensure that you don’t cause any confusion or tension with a missing, incomplete, or inaccurate company profile on the site.

At the individual level; ensure that your job title on your business cards and on your company website match that on LinkedIn too – don’t give people a reason to think that you may not be who you say you are!

Twitter/X?is another platform that companies are increasingly expected to be present on. It is less important than LinkedIn (for some) but its certainly possible that prospective clients will check on you there - so I recommend that you ensure your X/Twitter profile is also consistent with your other channels.

The one issue with Twitter is that it is more noticeable if you are completely inactive on the site. However, maintaining a company account doesn’t need to be too onerous – just a couple of posts a week will be enough to make your account not appear dormant to a viewer.

Thirdly we have?Facebook. This platform is far more social than the others and many companies choose not to have a presence here. However, according to similarweb Facebook is?the 3rd most popular website in the world (at the time of this article's publication) , so it is a good idea to create a presence here too.

Another channel that is easy to overlook is?Google itself. This is the most trafficked website in the world (see the link above) and it is important to try and do whatever you can to ensure that your information shows up accurately on it.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is too big a topic to handle in this article. But a good place to start is with your?Google Business Profile ?- the information that shows up in search and on Google Maps. Ensure these details are consistent with the descriptions of your company on other channels and you will create more trust with anyone researching you.

Finally, we have?YouTube?- also one of the most popular websites around and another your prospects might search to find out details of your firm.

Similar to Twitter however, it is a channel on which you really need to create and publish content in order to look like an active company, and in this case it is video content which is much harder to produce, so only utilize it if you are able to do so.

A consistent online presence across key channels will help build trust in your brand. And if you can reinforce your message and identity every time someone searches for you, then your company will be more memorable and you will have the opportunity to reach more prospects, efficiently and effectively.

But you need to make sure that you're saying something valuable when using these channels...

Don't be afraid to share your opinions on the issues that matter

For more than 20 years the global communications firm Edelman has studied the influence of trust in 4 key stakeholder groups around the world; government, media, business, and NGOs. Each year the team surveys tens of thousands of people across the globe, then performs an in-depth analysis of trust in these stakeholders, in a variety of areas.

The results ?always make for fascinating reading but, when it comes to the implications for business leaders in the space industry, such as yourself, they can also inform company and communications strategies.

For example, the 2024 Trust Barometer [PDF] shows that businesses are seen as the most competent type of organization type and are second only to NGOs in ethical terms.

But the Barometer also showed that trust in industry sectors does not guarantee trust in industry innovations. This implies it has to be built on an organizational level.

And there are also expectations around this by employees. For example, the Barometer states that 79% of employees surveyed would like their CEO to speak publicly about the ethical use of technology.

All of these findings, and several others reported in the Barometer, to me emphasize one thing – if a certain topic is important to your business,?don’t shy away from sharing your thoughts and opinions on it.

As an industry, space is closely integrated with a range of important societal challenges facing the world today, such as:

• Enabling secure and equitable access to global communications resources and internet connectivity,
• Supporting humanitarian and disaster relief efforts, and
• Identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

With potential customers and investors looking to companies to demonstrate leadership in these areas, and many others, there is an opportunity for space businesses to differentiate themselves – both as potential commercial partners and as great places to work.

In many cases such discussions can easily transcend sharing stories about corporate social responsibility initiatives you are supporting (important though these are) to also cover how you are actually building direct, technological solutions to existing problems.

It all comes down to positioning your company’s offer and giving context about the work you do. And your opinions – if shared honestly – will help people to trust you.

But it won't be enough to simply comment on the latest industry developments. To succeed in the space industry, you need to be a part of them.

You need to tell the world about your missions.

Tell your story – one mission at a time

As new suppliers, customers, and investors enter the space industry all around the world, in both public and private settings, companies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their quality and experience.

We all know how important sharing?flight heritage?is in this process but, based on our interactions with thousands of space engineers across the globe, we think there is an opportunity to go far deeper than just sharing a TRL number.

Below are 4?tips to help you make the most of the heritage you have achieved, or are in the process of achieving, in order to build business:

#1 Link the product to the mission - many satellite missions have individual pages or descriptions on your own or other websites. Wherever possible, try to get those pages to link to the individual sub-system or component of yours that was used – provided you are happy for this information to be public of course.

If you need to contact external website managers in order to get this added, try to frame your request as something that adds value to their page – which it does, as it provides more detail and context for their viewers.

#2 Collate ongoing updates - it is a good idea to give information on the progress of a mission (from the earliest design phase right through to decommissioning) when you can. We’ve seen that such updates are often shared on social media, in blog posts, in press releases, and in website news sections – and that’s perfectly fine.

But consider also collating that information on one page. This could be a rewrite of all the updates shared to date, or a simple chronological list of links to various articles published elsewhere on the mission’s development. This will give the interested prospective buyer the full context of a product’s utility and performance, as well as giving a flavor of what it is like to work with your company.

#3 Share the?full?story - don’t be afraid to give details of a mission?that is currently in progress, even if it will be the first time a new product has flown.

This will build your credibility; the space community recognizes that good engineering takes time, and bringing a new product to market involves rigorous testing on the ground and in space.

Being open about the actual development phase of a system will be well-received. In fact, in doing so you will also be able to build interest and generate excitement in a new innovation before it is fully mature.?

Of course, space is hard, and not everything goes to plan. But don’t be afraid of also sharing details of setbacks, delays, or challenges you face – particularly if you can link them to any lessons you have learned or course corrections you have made as a result.

This is further proof of your transparency in the marketplace and commitment to success. Which will only increase the market's trust in your brand.

#4 Don’t lose focus - obviously, you need to adjust your approach depending on your workload and strategic priorities. If you have minimal involvement in a small mission then don’t spend too time much describing it.

But in general, effort put into sharing the context of your technical development and in-orbit experience could generate sustained interest in your commercial offering from the global market and build trust in your brand.

Just be sure you address the more complex and controversial aspects of your missions in the right way.

Communicating responsibilities responsibly

As you know, the announcement of any new mission or service in development often provokes a range of questions from stakeholders and the community.

For example, companies may be rightly challenged on one or more of the following points:?

• How they intend to mitigate the potential of causing space debris (e.g. Space Situational Awareness (SSA), collision avoidance, de-orbiting etc.)
• Whether, and how, their own materials and manufacturing processes are sustainably and responsibly sourced and performed
• If the product, company, mission, or service has any military applications, or has been funded/developed with military bodies
• If the proposed mission has any potential to disrupt other satellite-based or terrestrial services or networks, and what mitigation is planned
• How the supplier intends to work effectively with national bodies and agencies to ensure public money is spent fairly
• Whether, and how, your company is addressing gender, diversity, and other inclusion issues

In the vast majority of cases, there are perfectly reasonable answers to any questions in these areas. So, when addressing any of these issues and concerns, it is important to be open and honest.

There are of course private and sensitive details that can’t be shared (more on this next), but for anything that can be mentioned, ensure you have the key points ready to respond to queries that come your way.

Being unnecessarily opaque can look like obfuscation which, in the most extreme cases, can even cause suspicion.

In fact, dialogues on tricky topics, far from being awkward, should be seen as opportunities to deepen engagement and trust with your potential customers and demonstrate thought leadership in the market.

This will, however, only work effectively if your customer-facing personnel are on the same page - and that is everyone from sales and marketing through to customer service.?

Clear and consistent messaging from across your business will help dispel doubts and grow your trusted brand in the industry.

But then there is the issue of confidential missions of course. The big issue...

Share what you can about confidential missions

As you know, your flight heritage is a vitally important part of your marketing. Any serious prospective customer will ask for information on how your technology has been tested and performed in orbit, and the more you can share, the better.

But there are often times when your previous customers are unwilling, or unable, to let you publicly communicate that you served them. This may be due to corporate confidentiality issues, considerations around the end-user (particularly for military or governmental missions), concerns over competition, or just an established process the company always follows.

It is always a good idea to clarify with your existing customers exactly what you can share about your involvement, and also if this is subject to change after a certain period of time – think of it as an embargo period. These details will be really useful for sales and marketing campaigns.

But when the restrictions are stringent, it isn’t easy to get around this, and there are times when your response to a prospect’s question about heritage might just have to be binary – "yes, uh, that product has flown, yes!"

For these situations, here are a few ideas on pieces of information that you might be able to share on anonymous basis, with examples, which will help demonstrate your expertise in space without the specifics:

• Number and nature of missions / satellites:?“This product has been used on more than 20 LEO missions.”
• Number of hours/days in space:?“Our sensors have a combined heritage of more than 300 days in orbit.”
• Number of operations on orbit:?“This system has successfully performed more than 400 operations in orbit.”
• Anonymous or generic details of launch integration and pre-flight testing:?“In past missions, the system has successfully passed rigorous pre-flight qualification for use in deep space exploration.”

Newer entrants to the market (which we’re seeing emerge from a number of countries and territories around the world, as well as from established, non-space-related industries) may be less familiar with existing brand names and past mission successes, so it is frustrating when you can’t share heritage information that might have helped convince them to become your customer.

Instead, try and be creative about how you share partial details, or allude to the successes you’ve had, while also being upfront with prospects about why you can’t give them more. If nothing else, they will appreciate that you are respecting your customer’s requirements on confidentiality.

Becoming a trusted supplier

Ultimately there isn't any one thing that will create genuine trust with a prospect - it is about ensuring all of your many interactions and potential touchpoints are cohesive and positive.

And at an organizational level it is important to match expectations with reality. Do what you say you will do and act in accordance with the values and beliefs that you say you hold.

Hopefully the ideas above will help you find ways to demonstrate and communicate this in the marketplace.

At satsearch, we are helping suppliers all over the world to grow their businesses in this way - explaining their capabilities, company heritage, and the context of their portfolio in the global market.

We call this our Trusted Supplier program and we would love to discuss it with any space supplier serious about creating a profitable, powerful brand.

Simply click here to get started .

Thanks for reading!