In God we trust

Over the last few weeks I have been involved in a couple of discussions about trust. 

Not surprisingly a lot of businesses have trust in their values and have aspirations to be a ‘trusted adviser’, ‘a most trusted brand’ or ‘a partner you can trust’.

Now I always think that trust is something you earn and never claim. Instinctively when someone says ‘trust me’, you know not to.

But more fundamentally what is trust and how does one earn it?

And when you ask that question few can answer.

To quote the famous American Supreme Court Judge when asked to define hard core pornography, ‘it is hard to define but I will know it when I see it’.

So is it possible to define trust?

A wise man once introduced me to the Trust Equation and I think that anyone wanting to be a trusted brand should consider their performance on the dimensions of this Equation as set out below:

T= (Ex+R+Em)/S

Where

T=Trust

Ex=Expertise, a high level of subject matter knowledge and expertise

R=Reliability, the brand/business/individuals do exactly what it promises to do every time

Em=Empathy, the ability to relate to people, to understand and share their emotions

S=self-interest, a perception that the brand/business/individual is acting out of their own self-interest will seriously undermine trust.

In short trust can only be earned by performing consistently to a high standard on the attributes of expertise, reliability and empathy, and by minimising the extent to which the brand or the business  and its people is seen to be acting in their own self-interest.

When you put it like this it is easy and pretty straightforward to understand what we mean by trust. Of course saying it and understanding what it means is one thing. Putting such understanding into action is altogether another kettle of fish.

But here’s an idea to consider.

If your brand or your business has the T word in its values, its mission statement or it vision, remove it.

And instead replace it with the attributes of the Trust Equation.

Make your values more about being empathetic, reliable, expert and acting in the customers’ interest not ours. In other words earn trust through behaviours, don’t just claim it.

And while we are at it, values should have a pain attached. They must stress and stretch the organisation otherwise what is the point.

Nothing is to be gained by just having values that talk about empathy, expertise, et al. Name any business that wouldn’t want to be empathetic, expert and reliable.

Try having a value that talks about showing real understanding how our customers feel; doing what we say we are going to do every time; showing real subject matter expertise; and doing the right things for our customers even when it costs us money.

Now I think we’re talking.

Now we have values with bite, with meaning, with edge. Now we can be a trusted brand.