Are you Trusted?

In my article last week, we discussed some of the core values of this phenomenon we understand as the "know, like, trust" factor of business. If you remember, the discussion centered around these sub-conscious questions that each company is asking. Is my company known, liked and trusted? If these aren't' answered, then you won't have a business. I gave you a couple of questions to work through to help you with the first of these three factors. Did you do your homework? If you need to read the article or review it again you can find it here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/know-like-trust-you-known-liked-trusted-doug-kliewer/

Today, let's move into the second aspect that you as a business owner is asking, "Am I liked?"

Why is this question important? Or maybe why should I care?

I am not going to throw an inordinate amount of data as there are plenty of smarter people out there like, Tony Robbins, Robert Cialdini, or Kevin Hogans of the world that breathe it. But to make my point, I do want to ask a simple question, and you tell me then whether getting a prospect or client to like you is crucial.

Which ice cream flavor do you choose from the cooler?

Wait, what? What does the flavor of ice cream I choose have to do with whether a customer likes my business? Stay with me, and you get to dream about some creamery delights.

Okay, back to the cooler. Choose something that your taste buds enjoy, and you have had an enjoyable experience with that flavor. There is the key, you "like" something because we gain from participating with it. We could dive into the psychological principles and tendencies of your choice, but at the core, it comes down to whether you relate pleasure or pain to the flavor of ice cream. If you are my youngest son, he will choose cookies and cream over moose tracks every day. He has had pleasurable experiences with the former, and because of allergic reactions, the latter has caused pain.

Your goal as a business owner is to connect to their pleasurable experiences, and it will open them up to moving into the third factor. I will get to the third question in a second, but first something more about becoming likable and connecting.

How do you connect and therefore be likable? Just as we discussed in the first article, you have to know them, and you get to know them by asking questions. The more you know and show interest in your audience the more you like them, and it cascades into yourself being liked.

The next progression is a movement of your customer to trust you. Trust is the ultimate goal. Without trust, you have no relationship and therefore no business. Trust promotes a constant exchange of value between two parties. But the only way that trust is built or possessed is by a willingness to be vulnerable.

I was at an event recently where I shared the stage with some speakers. I had one of the speakers approach me afterward saying, "I felt very connected to your message and how vulnerable you were to us as an audience." This speaker had a great talk and gave vital information, but by his admittance stated he needed to connect better and knew vulnerability was the key.

You want to be trusted; then you must first trust your prospects and clients with your humanness. There is an unknown factor with trust. You have to let go of any premonition of a lousy experience and believe that good will come out of it.

I recently was working with a book publishing client of mine. As we were working through the process of creating the book content, I messed up royally. Now the client at the time didn't know, and I could have easily blame shifted the error to someone else, but I trusted that the client knew and liked me. My openness created a path for a better connection. As Stephen Covey puts it, "Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.

Trust should never be taken for granted. Trust takes time to build. Did you notice the word that I used to describe this process?

Build!

I remember taking on a project of putting together an unassembled chair that I purchased for my office. I did graduate from kindergarten so I should be able to figure this out, right? My thinking was this would be a piece of cake. Yet, eating cake is a whole lot easier and different than baking the cake. One you are quickly able to devour and sit back and revel in the ease at which you accomplished this task, the other not so much. Building, just like baking, takes time, effort, patience, and attention to detail. And so it is with chair building, but I was in the mindset of consumption and move on, not creation. My chair was finished but not very reliable to sit upon as I soon found out, as it gave way and I found myself embarrassingly on the floor.

The prove to a prospect that you are trustworthy and therefore buy from you takes you showing them through actions or social proof that you can be trusted.

What is one action that you can do that will cement in a prospect's mind that you can be trusted? Let me ask you, "why are they coming to you in the first place?"

They have a problem that needs to be solved, correct?

What if you gave them the steps to getting it solved, in other words, gave away your best stuff, without any strings attached. Would your willingness to share and as was stated earlier to be vulnerable, create confidence in you that you will do what is in the prospects best interest?

Yes!

The second way to create trust is to have your client heroes share their story of confidence in you. Social proof is powerful. I mentioned in the first article that multiple studies have been done that 85% of the business that is done today is with those you know, like and trust. Interesting fact of that number is that close to half of that 85% comes from someone referring you to a buy from a business. The prospect has trust in a friend or family member that your trust in business holds weight.

You need to continue to nurture trust with your current clients because they will be your best cheerleaders.

Now, where do you go from here?

You have to follow the process. Know your audience, and you can do this by answering the three questions that I laid out here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/know-like-trust-you-known-liked-trusted-doug-kliewer/

Second, like who they are.

Last, you need to trust them.

Do the work from your point of view first, and soon the audience you know, will get to know you. As you like them, they will like it and start liking you. The trust in them will blossom into a trust of you, which they will share it with those looking to solve the problem you solve.

I trust that you can do this!

Make sure and let me know how it goes or any of your experiences below in the comments.

Doug Kliewer is a best selling author and founder of The Hero Maker Group. Most conscientious business leaders complicate their message to prospects. The Hero Maker Group coaches a 5-part blueprint that makes your story be seen and heard so your impact and revenues grow. His Hero Maker Showcase is designed to help authors and aspiring authors create presentations and marketing videos that get their story into the hands of the right reader. Go visit HeroMakerGroup.com to learn about the upcoming Hero Maker Showcase or how you can get seen and heard by your audience.