Building Trust with Marketing: From Broken Promises to Business Wins

Last Thursday while I was dropping off my kids to school, I made a promise that I would take them biking at 4 PM.
At 4PM, I was still at my desk, working. They came and reminded me about biking. I told them to wait for 5 minutes, as I needed to send one last email. That took me 30 minutes instead of 5 and they had moved on to some other activity. I felt guilty, so I went and told them that we could go biking the next day.

They said, “Never mind mom, we already asked Dad, he is going to take us tomorrow”. Wow! I did not see that coming. It was just one small slip up, and I was providing an alternative. But once bitten, twice shy. The kids had already moved on, they had lost trust in me being present at 4PM the next day.

Not only did I “lose the deal” to a “competitor” (my husband) and did not achieve my goal of spending quality time with them. I had also lost credibility and my competency to manage my time was challenged.

Now to convert my kids back to customers, I need to start from the beginning to build their trust by showing authenticity, setting realistic expectations, integrity and being consistent with keeping the promises I make to regain the 4 - 5pm of quality time slot with them.

As I licked my wounds, the experience sparked a revelation about trust and its profound relevance in the realm of marketing.

Transitioning from the personal revelation, let's delve into the professional context. In the world of demand generation, the North Star guiding our strategies and campaigns is Trust.

With the huge wave of technology and AI that’s sweeping the industry, it’s becoming more important than ever to go back to the basics and build more human marketing experiences that form real connections. When we ask ourselves as demand generation marketers what we do, and why we do it, it all comes down to one key aspect.
Trust - It is the fuel that ignites and helps run the marketing engine that helps organizations achieve the goals and outcomes that they desire.

Here are my 5 key learnings about how marketing can help organizations build trust with their prospects and customers:

1. Know your customers: Know their problems, the type of solutions they are seeking to solve the problem, what price are they willing to pay for the solution 
2. Be credible: Deliver what you say you will deliver. Demonstrate compassion,commitment to customer interests, and focus on accountability when establishing relationship with the customer
3. Be authentic and true: Share the truth about your values, strengths, competencies. No fluff. Don’t over-promise. Integrity and authenticity are keys to successful long term relationships with the customers.
4. Be consistent: Deliver value consistently over a period of time. This promotes customer loyalty, increase in business and referrals from them that directly impacts your business outcomes.
5. Be predictable: Once a prospect decides to invest in you to deliver the promised results,they expect predictability. Predictability propels reliability.

How does trust impact growth? I have tried to break down the relationship between trust (and the marketing function of building it) and growth into a simple four quadrant model.

• High trust High growth - The trusted growth oasis
  This is the case where there is unwavering trust between the buyer and the seller. It is the sweet spot where credibility meets expansion. It creates a fertile breeding ground for a sustainable and flourishing revenue ecosystem.
• High trust Low growth - The steadfast trust haven
  This is where organizations are on their path to embracing the trust initiatives. They trust marketing to go out with a positioning, messaging and narrative that helps build trust with the customers. It is a work in progress, inching towards success. It is the groundwork for establishing long lasting reliability and integrity. 
• Low trust High Growth - The rapid rise zone
  This is a zone where growth surges, but the trust needs attention. This happens when the focus is solely on quick wins versus long term success.  
• Low trust Low growth - The reassess and revitalize zone
  When an organization finds itself in this situation, neither trust or growth is thriving. It is time to reflect and identify areas of improvement, to establish a sustainable approach to achieve business goals. 

In summary, marketing's essence lies in building and retaining buyer trust. When delivered with credibility, consistency, reliability, and predictability, it establishes a foundation for a sustainable high-growth model aligning with overall business goals.