Imagine for a moment that the communication in question isn’t marketing. Imagine you’re at a social event, talking with a stranger you’d like to know. What will keep this stranger talking with you? Will allow him to become intensely interested in what you have to say?

Talk about a topic in which the other person is very interested. (“Oh! You collect spiders?”)

Not only BE truthful and sincere – project it. Interestingly, even when you ARE being genuine, people don’t always believe it, probably because they have been exposed to so much that is false.

Hear and respond to the other person. Answer his or her questions directly, rather than swerving back to what you wanted to say anyway. Eventually, you can get to your message, but don’t force the matter prematurely.

Inspire curiosity. Be interesting enough that the person wants to learn more, and to continue talking with you, and to resume the conversation another time as well.

Now – let’s get back to the discipline of marketing. The principles are the same, but the barriers are higher. When you have something for sale (or, shall we say, “skin in the game”) you face the challenge of appearing biased. Gosh, wonder why! So it’s all the more important to project that you are telling the truth. The type of communication we’ve described above is a slower, more authentic way to build relationships than old-school hit-me-over-the-head-with-it marketing. But IT WORKS. Banks and financial service companies need solid relationships with customers and clients. So do companies whose products require a major commitment of time or money, or a switch to a new technology platform. So does your company, I’ll bet.

Think about the many types of communication you employ – from speaking engagements to webinars, editorial coverage to white papers, social media to sales meetings. Each of these can be studied and, as necessary, retooled to more clearly and effectively speak in an authentic voice.

In a time when trust is rare and business is still recovering from a nasty year or two, is it worth your time to make sure your communications resonate? At vSA, we’re voting yes-absolutely-yes, and the nature of our clients’ communications increasingly reflects our focus on building trust as we build their brands and sales.

Real trust is hard to find.

Even disregarding the in-your-face reality that current economic instability was caused in part by shoddy business practices in the lending and investment markets, marketers during this or any recovery need to pay heed to the one factor more likely than any other to influence a prospect to become a customer.

Not price – it’s trust.

How the heck do you build trust, you may ask? In two words, Get Real. Everybody else is as tired as you are of being fooled again, and again.

How to Get Real and Earn Trust, genuinely.

•    Introducing a product or service? Don’t jump the gun. All too often, companies announce a new product… and it’s not ready when they’ve said it will be. You look foolish at best, incompetent at worst.
•    Provide valuable information. Yup, it can be hard work to say anything that hasn’t been said a zillion times. Every marketer knows this. (Hey, look, I’m writing about TRUST for heaven’s sake – not original for sure, but I believe it’s timely.) Consider some straight talk that’s not a pitch. Gasp. It can be powerful stuff. Using techniques that can include PR, newsletters, informative CDs, the Web, and more lets you position your company as an industry expert. It’s a great way – a REAL way – to build trust among customers and prospects.
•    Keep at it. Hey, don’t give up! It takes time to build trust. Reach out to the same audiences again and again. Keep the messages consistent – if you appear to be inconsistent, customers won’t trust you.
•    Consider testimonials. Real confirmation that others have delighted in your offerings is a confidence-builder for prospects.
•    Listen to your customers. If you survey them, let them know you’ve heard. If they have a concern, address it. If they request technical support, make sure that it is good and that it is prompt. Again, hard work for real results.
•    Know your market. The more you know about your customer’s business, the more that customer can rely on you for solid solutions.
•    Please advise. Whenever you can, use a consultative approach to sales and marketing. That is, inform and advise more than you push the sale. After all, products and services as good as yours practically sell themselves… okay, okay, maybe I’m getting too optimistic here.
•    That brings us to another point: Make sure the products and services you offer DO live up to their promises. Otherwise – poof – the trust is gone.

The infamous Bernie Madoff. So much has been said and written about him since the tale of his bilking both private and institutional investors hit the scene that I nearly didn’t write this entry. But isn’t it worth saying that Madoff can – inadvertently of course – teach us something?

-The appealing culture of “my word is my bond” can be a trap. We like to believe that we can, through intuition and experience, determine that someone is good, honest, skilled, and trustworthy. Even today we often make deals on a handshake. The list of institutions, organizations and wealthy individuals that dealt with Madoff is troubling in part because each and every one of them wrongly depended on either their own judgment or someone else’s, then entrusted Madoff with their money. It’s hard to imagine completely abandoning our own intuition, but in the words that Ronald Reagan made immortal, “Trust, but verify.” And certainly don’t outsource the job. Don’t trust a stranger to trust a stranger. Ever.

-And the Securities and Exchange Commission?? That’s even worse because the SEC supposedly knows and cares about what it’s regulating. Right? But the SEC gave Madoff a pass after a recent investigation of his operation. The jury (and there should be one, eh?) is still out on this, but the word negligence is too mild, and the word criminal may be just a starting point. Just saying. Sadly, here it is again: we can’t trust strangers to take care of us, and apparently that includes the SEC.

-Little-known and poorly understood financial constructs (like Madoff’s hedge fund) are dangerous investments, even if you’re Steven Spielberg or an international bank. Abstruse mechanisms are sometimes that way for a reason. It’s easy to get stupid in the search for way-better-than-average results, whether in love, finance, beauty, sex, or other matters close to the human heart.

-There must be other Madoffs out there. I hope I’m way off base on this, but suspect we’ll uncover other investment frauds during the next challenging couple of years.