Trust in Business has never been more important. The unpredictably volatile nature of the recent years made it much more necessary to have trust in our partners. Companies need to be reassured that their associates will be by their side even when things go south for everyone.
Gaining another person’s Trust is hard enough, but in the case of B2B companies it is infinitely harder.
What Is Trust in Business
Trust is the more emotion based sibling of credibility. This can be seen in the Merriam-Webster definition of the word: “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something”. More often than not it is based on experiences, personal interactions and assumptions. Trust can make us take a blind leap of faith, based on personal feelings.
It lays the foundation of a healthy and lengthy business relationship. When Trust is present, both parties are confident in the other’s abilities and intentions (latter is also achieved through Clarity). They are sure that the other will deliver on their promises, and that those promises were true in the first place.
Maintaining Trust
One could easily say that communications has nothing to do with Trust. If we do our job well, then the other party will trust in us no matter what. In a sense this is true. However, with good communications practices we can inspire a greater sense of trust in ourselves and our services.
Well-planned Internal Communications and Strategic Communications helps a company operate more efficiently. Also, a part of the work culture can be seen from the outside by clients. Consequently, if the internal parts of the company malfunction, if representatives are unprofessional we can easily lose the Trust we have built with our services.
After we have earned someone’s trust there is lesser need to emphasize our credibility, as we have proven ourselves before as knowledgeable and reliable. This does not mean that one can rest after trust is there. Business relationships, just as personal ones, need constant maintenance and nourishment.