Trust - the glue of B2B Marketing
Declan Mulkeen
Helping B2B Tech brands grow with ABM. Let's talk ABM podcast host. CMO at strategicabm
Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that binds all relationships.”
So said Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
He goes on to aptly state, "Trust is the one thing that changes everything."?
This is true not only in our personal lives but also in our professional lives.?
In this article I’m goint to examine the role of trust in B2B marketing and, more particulary, in Account-based Marketing, how to cultivate it, and why it’s integral to the success of every business relationship.?
Why trust matters in B2B
Let’s take a look at why trust is crucial in B2B marketing.
Nobody makes an impulse purchase in B2B.
It often involves multiple touchpoints and decisions-makers.
Trust needs to be established and maintained throughout this process to ensure a smooth customer journey and to encourage potential customers to take the next step in the buying process.
2. High stakes poker
Most B2B organizations have spending limits.
You know - you can spend less than $x without needing a purchase order or you can spend up to $y on your company credit card, etc.
These are clearly small purchases that do not have a material impact on the company’s finances or the company’s performance.?
When it comes to major purchases we’re all aware how B2B purse strings have tightened and how more and more controls are now put in place.?
While the old adage “No one got fired for buying IBM” may have been true in the past the level of risk involved in any major B2B purchase has increased dramatically.?
Trust in a vendor’s reliability, product quality, and expertise has now become a crucial factor in any B2B buying committee’s decision making process.
3. Partnership and service
B2B relationships often go (or really should) beyond a single transaction.?
They involve ongoing service, support, and sometimes even product customization.
Trust is critical in these situations because it reassures customers that they will receive the support and service they require post-sale.?
As Karen Strugnell, Marketing Director France, Iberia, Italy at UiPath, points out:
4. Reputation
In the B2B world, reputation is everything.
To quote the author Stephen Covey again:
Trust is the one thing that changes everything.?
Companies depend on word-of-mouth and referrals to generate an important part of their new business.
Equally, buyers self-educate and do their own reference checking asking their communities about vendors and vendor experiences.?
Trust plays a significant role in this process, as companies are more likely to recommend vendors they trust to their contacts.
5. Building relationships
Successful B2B marketing isn't just about one-time sales; it's about building long-term relationships.
Trust is the foundation of any relationship, and it can lead to repeat business, brand loyalty, and brand advocacy.
Alex Embling, CEO of ABM Agency strategicabm argues:
6. Navigating change
B2B markets are continually evolving, with new technologies and approaches emerging regularly.?
In this environment, customers need to trust that their vendors can guide them through these changes and deliver solutions that will keep their businesses competitive.
The Trust Equation
To understand trust's complexity, we turn to the trust equation, a model proposed by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford in their book, "The Trusted Advisor."?
While many people are familiar with the trust equation it’s important first to define what trust is.
The authors of The Trusted Advisor define trust as:
Trustworthiness is only one half of what creates a personal relationship of trust - the other half is ‘Trusting’ which can be defined as where one part takes a risk to trust another and the other party proves to be (or not) trustworthy.?
So let’s take a look and explore more what it means to be trustworthy.?
The equation is:
Trustworthiness = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-Orientation
Credibility??
This refers to the belief that that the person/company we are engaging with has the necessary expertise and skills, e.g. you might say “I trust what he says about Artificial Intelliegnce; he’s very credible on the subject of AI.”
Reliability?
This concerns our ability to keep promises and deliver on expectations consistently, e.g. you might say “If she says he’ll come through and deliver the meeting he will. I trust her as she has never not delivered.”
Intimacy?
This is about the level of safety or security that feel when we entrust someone with something, e.g. you might say “I can share that information with him. He’s never let me down and I know that he will keep that information confidential.”
Self-orientation
This relates to our focus – the lesser our self-focus (i.e. the more we focus on the other and less on ourselves) the higher our trustworthiness, e.g. you might say “I’m not sure I can trust her. She’s more interested in what she gets from this deal than what we get from it.”
This equation underscores that trust is not a monolithic concept, but a multifaceted construct built upon credibility, reliability, and intimacy, while always keeping the self-orientation in check.
Trust in corporate relationships
In the corporate world, the Harvard Business Review highlighted that high-trust companies "outperform low-trust companies by nearly 300%".
When trust exists, it facilitates:
Conversely, the absence of trust can lead to defensive behaviors and hidden agendas, undermining any collaborative effort.
The Economist Intelligence Unit, in their report "Trust and the Bottom Line" (2018), revealed that trust plays a critical role in a company's financial performance and its ability to rebound from crises.
Trust is undeniably a critical asset in the corporate world.
The most trusted B2B brands
We’re all familiar with those surveys of the most valuable brands.
The most well-known is perhaps the one by Kantar.?
Apple retains its crown as the number one most valuable global brand in Kantar BrandZ’s annual ranking with a brand valuation of $880bn.
This ranking, while it takes into consideration consumer brand opinion, is heavily weighted to the financial value of the brand and it’s percentage contribution to overall company performance.?
There will undoubtedly be a lot of crossover between the most valuable brands and the most trusted brands.?
Let’s take a look at the ‘Most Trusted B2B Brands’ survey conducted by sagefrog.
The table below shows the scores of a host of well known B2b brands that were found to be ‘trusted B2B brands’.?
The findings from sagefrog highlights four keys areas where these B2B brands excel:
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How trust manifests itself in B2B Marketing
In B2B marketing, trust holds the power to shape decisions and steer the direction of long-term partnerships.?
Key to this is understanding who buyers trust - and why.
In Forrester’s recently published ‘B2B Brand And Communications Survey’, they asked respondents which source of information buyers trust the most.?
The survey’s results were fascinating albeit not necessarily surprising.?
Respondents trusted those they felt close to - be it physically, psychologically, or in working in similar environments.?
The trusted sources included:
1. Colleagues and peers
Over 90% of respondents said that buyers completely or somewhat trusted peers in their industry.
A further 85% said they trusted the customers of vendors in their industry.
2. Independent voices
Sources of information that are seen as being objective tend to command more trust. 80%+ said that buyers trust industry analysts and about two-thirds think buyers trust business consultants.
And Sales professionals I hear you say? Where did they appear on this ‘trust spectrum’??
Salespeople from vendors were the least trusted group tracked by Forrester with only 29% of respondents saying they were trusted sources of information.
And what does this mean for B2B Marketing (and Sales)??
If building buyer trust is your goal, then it makes sense to to build strong relationships with the ‘trusted voices’ that buyers look to for information rather than trying to engage directly.
What makes life more complicated is that buyers tend to trust their current vendors - meaning that replacing or displacing them is doubly difficult as you are not trusted.?
So you can see it all comes back to the Trust Worthiness equation but with the added elements of authority and objectivity. In fact, there are elements of the Sensemaking process we talked about in an earlier edition of DashDot that should be included in this thinking.?
The role of trust in ABM
Jack Rawlings, Head of ABM at strategicabm shares:
Account-based Marketing is not an abstract marketing strategy. It is very specific. It is very focused. It is very account centric. It is very...customer centric.
To do ABM well demands a high level of personalization and engagement, where trust plays a pivotal role.
Trust, in an ABM context, is about showing the account - the key people in that account - that you understand their business, can provide personalized solutions to their problems, and are willing to invest in a long-term relationship for mutual growth.
Earning trust in ABM
Guess what...the buyer has changed and there’s no going back.
Surveys reveal that up to 80% of the buying journey is now done without Sales.?
Sales (and Marketing) therefore need to establish a credible reason to be part of the buyer conversation, part of the buyer journey, and ultimately, part of the buyer solution.?
Think about what is happening today.
Artificial Intelligence, Meta, Cloud, Machine Learning, all types of analytics, etc. are just some of the new ways B2B businesses are providng to be more efficient, effective, profitable, competitive, and, ultimately, closer to their customers.?
But these technologies are not easy to understand.
And they are certainly not easy to buy (let’s not talk about integration, etc.).
Buyers need help and this is where Account-based Marketing can play its trump card. (no reference to a former US President here but rather it’s a card game term - google it!)?
Let’s take a look at how ABM can build trust with these buyers:
As we said above buyers need help.
They need help with these advances.
They need help with these technologies.
They need help with information overload.
They need help to know what good looks like and how to ensure a successful product selection and deployment.?
This is where your educational content comes in.
Content that helps your buyers make sense of their industry, key trends, best practices, etc.
Content that guides them through their purchasing process.
Educational content is instrumental in building credibility and trust with customers and your prospects.?
2. Be transparent
Being upfront about your offerings, their costs, potential limitations, and how you operate builds trust.
Karen Strugnell explains
“It's about having a collaborative approach with the client and being open and honest when there are issues.”
3. Be consistent
Regular, relevant, and personalized communication nurtures relationships with your key accounts.
It signals your commitment to understanding and addressing their needs.
4. Demonstrate expertise
You’ll recall earlier how your buyers trust their peers, objective thought leaders, etc?
Well here is an opportunity to leverage this fact and position yourself as the facilitator.
Host webinars, draft whitepapers, share customer case studies.
These are all ways of demonstrating your expertise and the value you have provided to similar clients.?
5. Be personal
Show your commitment by creating messaging, experiences, and solutions personalized to your target account's unique challenges and agenda. Investing in these actions show that you are treating this one account as a ‘market of one’.?
6. Offer high value exchange opportunities
How often have you gone to a vendor website and seen the main “Calls-to-action’ as ‘Book a demo’ or ‘Contact us’ or ‘Contact Sales’, etc.?
These are ‘bottom of the funnel’ triggers - where less than 5% of your market is.
The value proposition you create as part of your Account-based Marketing strategy will highlight what the value exchange opportunities are.?
We find that leading with a much more educational value exchange earlier on in the buyer journey creates much more trust with the buyer.?
We call this the Demand Trust ratio. In the graphic below you can see that when you have low brand awareness and low levels of trust with the buyer leading with a demo request, etc. will not create trust and in fact will not be selected by the buyer.?
What is far more effective is to lead with an educational workshop where the subject matter discussed relates to the specific challenges of the buyer - not about your product or solution.?
Here at the Agency, our ‘Trust proposition’ is the ABM Lunch & Learn workshop.
This free educational workshop provides an opportunity for B2B Marketers to share their Go-to-market strategy, review best practices, and hear how other B2B tech brands are succeeding with Account-based Marketing.
It’s a real opportunity to learn, share, and discuss where we don’t pitch, we don’t sell.?
Trust takes time
To quote Karen Strugnell again:
It requires deliberate, consistent effort to build and maintain over a long period of time.
Trust paves the way for more profound, more successful business relationships and is the linchpin of any successful ABM strategy.?
"Trust after all is like love". Simon Sinek famously said...”Both parties have to feel it before it really exists.”?
Trust truly is the one thing that changes everything.
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