Trust me

When was the last time you asked someone to trust you?

Do your customers trust you?

We’re in a weird world now, one where we don’t give our trust easily. After all, politicians lie to us, the media lies to us and even companies we thought we could trust aren’t entirely transparent.

We don’t trust business

The Edelman Trust Barometer 2019 tell us most people don’t trust business to do what’s right (56%).

And it means we have to work a lot harder to earn our customers’ trust.

Fake news, badly behaving organisations and a younger, more socially aware generation means people are crying out for authenticity. We want reality, not marketing gloss.

And that can feel scary for companies because it means being vulnerable, real and human, not hiding behind vague language and corporate whiffle.

A chance to change

You shouldn’t be scared. It’s the biggest opportunity you’ve had in decades. The perfect time to hit the reset button, a chance to build trust using the power of language.

Language is real, concrete and shows what’s happening in your organisation (good or bad!).

If you know your values (and live them) and use language that reflects those values you’ll create an amazing customer experience. And people want that more than ever before.

In the Edelman survey, 81% of people said trusting the brand to do what’s right is a deal-breaker or deciding factor in their buying decision.

If you’re ready to change then you can do two things. Look at the emails and letters you send to customers – are they human and direct or corporate and vague? Do they help build trust or undermine it?

And secondly, ask your customers if they trust you. If they say no, find out why. You might be surprised at the answers and how they could help you change and grow.

If you fancy learning a bit more about how your language reveals your truth, and what you can do about it, download my language manifesto at https://www.benafia.com/language-manifesto-optin/