Build Trust, Build a Business

There are two ways to build a business.  The first method is the Market-Sell model.  In this model, you market your product, and then you sell it.  Repeat ad nauseum. That’s it. The second method is Market-Connect-Sell-Support-Sell Again.  Market your product, connect with your customers, and then sell your product.  But you’re not done yet, because then you need to support your customers post-sale, because ultimately, your goal is to have them buy from you again.

The difference between the two methods is that the second method leads to more repeat customers, which is a more efficient way of building a business.  It’s also a hell of a lot more fun as a small business to connect with your customers than it is to sell to faceless strangers.  The secret ingredient to method #2 is trust.

Building trust online is not easy.  It’s a lot easier to trust someone that you’ve looked him in the eye and shook hands.  The internet, almost by definition, is untrustworthy.  Our beloved world wide web still has a reputation for being a hangout for seedy characters (the Dave Chappelle skit about what the internet would look like if it were a real place is a pretty good depiction of how the web is viewed – unfortunately, I can’t link to it because I’m in Canada, and Comedy Central doesn’t like Canadians).

In order to overcome the additional barriers of gaining trust that are imposed by the internet, small business owners need to find ways to connect with their customers.  Luckily, doing this is not as difficult as it might seem.  Connecting with a customer is as simple as dropping him a personalized e-mail to see how he’s enjoying his products; or keeping your ears open on social media for anyone talking about your brand and responding quickly and politely; or providing excellent post sale customer service; or interacting with fans on a Facebook fan page; or getting them to come in to your physical location with a Foursquare offer, and then connecting in person; or any other number of possible methods. In short, trust is about connecting, and connecting is about being human.

The above mentioned methods are all direct methods of earning trust.  If you try to do that with each and every one of your customers, you will either be limiting yourself to a small number of customers, or you’ll be tapping yourself out at some point, and then you won’t be connecting well with anyone.  Thus, small business owners need to earn trust indirectly.

Everyone trusts someone, and that person doesn’t necessarily need to be you.  As long as the people who trust you, are spreading the word about you to people who trust them, you’re building trust indirectly.  This is what Seth Godin refers to as building your tribe. (affiliate link)

The doubters of trust and human business always claim that trying to build trust isn’t a scalable business model, and so processes and efficiencies are more important than connection.  Indirect trust building, and having people that trust you enough to use their own influence to spread word about you is how building trust scales.

There are a few trust building exercises most small business can implement quickly:

1) Maintain a blog. Show your expertise in your field, and show your personality.  People trust people, not faceless entities.

2) Video posts. On the internet, you may not be able to shake someone’s hand, but with video, you can at least look them in the eye.  Videos are a great way to build trust.

3) Write a book. This may be easier said than done, but have you ever noticed that a published author gains instant credibility?  People are far more likely to trust someone who has published a work that demonstrates his or her expertise, even if they’ve never read it.

4) Provide exceptional customer service. Think providing exceptional customer service is difficult?  Think again.  All you need to do is under-promise, and over-deliver.

You can have the most efficient processes in the world in place to run your company, it can run like a well-oiled machine, but if you don’t have the trust of your customers, you’re not going very far.

Don’t believe me?  Just ask Toyota.