Building Trust in Your Business

Over the past several months there have been many instances where consumers have been left with trust issues about business. From E. Coli in spinach, to lead in toys -- there have been many concerns about product safety lately. Add to that the trust concerns consumers have about price increases in energy, food and health care and trust in business would seem to be taking a hit.

It's interesting then that a recent study called the "Edelman Trust Barometer of 2007" indicates that 58 percent of U.S. college-educated opinion leaders age 35 to 64 say they trust business, up from 44 percent in 2002. That is a significant increase over the last five years. The study indicates that overall, people trust local brands more than global ones. That could be a major factor in the message you convey to your clients and prospects.

Another interesting finding is that, "People are nearly twice as likely to believe a regular employee of a company as they are the CEO," says Laurence Evans, president of StrategyOne, the research arm of Edelman. Typically, your customers are interacting with your team members on a day-to-day basis so empowering your team to make decisions and take action to WOW a customer will pay big dividends in your customer satisfaction levels.

Take the time to train and build credibility with your team. Create a culture of truthfulness and integrity in your business and this culture will come out when serving your clients. If they trust you and they believe you then they are much more likely to buy from you ... and come back for more!