Trust, Double-Edged Swords and Marketing: Turning Skeptics Into Believers

Do You Trust Me ???

Do both of us a favor right now and THINK
about that question and your answer …

Do YOU trust ME ???

I will bet that your answer sounds something like …

“Well…sure” or “Why should I ?”

One is an emotional answer. The other is a logical answer. And the one that works for you will tell you whether you are more right-brained (subjective) or left-brained (objective).

Most of people in this world are more right-brained. They FEEL their way through life. They see big pictures in their mind’s eye filled with all kinds of possibilities. They live more in the present and the future. They are more impetuous and willing to take risks. They “get it” on an intuitive level. They believe and have faith. They appreciate people and things.

Left-brainers use details, facts and past experiences to make decisions about their lives. They are reality based people who know things. They feel better when their decisions in life are practical and safe. They take the time to understand things. They believe things when they have tangible proof. They acknowledge people and things.

Trust is both emotional and logical. This is where trust becomes a double-edge sword. When trust is emotional, you expose your vulnerabilities to other people, but you are believing that they will not take advantage of your openness. When trust is logical, you have assessed the probabilities of gain and loss based on facts and have concluded that the person will behave in a “predictable” manner. When you combine both the emotional and logical aspects of trust it sounds something like “I trust you because I have experienced your trustworthiness and I have faith and belief in you as a human being.”

People also FEEL trust. Remember the question that I asked…”Do YOU trust ME ??” How did that make you feel ?? Emotions typically associated with trust are love, friendship, companionship, comfort, relaxation and belief. Maybe you felt some of those things when I asked you “Do YOU trust ME ?”… maybe you didn’t.

If you do feel comfortable with me, relaxed with me, or you believe me, it is because I have given you something that is valuable to you and you do not feel as though I have a hidden agenda. If you do not feel comfortable with me, it is because you personally do not have an experience of my trustworthiness and have no idea of where I am coming from. I have not earned your belief and trust yet. Your emotional radar is saying something like…”Danger Will Robinson...Danger” because it is trying to protect you from any possible harm that I could do you.

As marketers, we walk a very fine line of trust with the people that we are marketing to. Developing trust is critical in building relationships with people who eventually turn into our customers and business partners.

Developing trust with others through marketing means consistently giving VALUE to the people that you are marketing to with absolutely no expectation of return. One component of your marketing message to them is “Here is valuable knowledge that can help you get what you want and make your life easier.“

The other component of your message requires that you are authentic and transparent as a human being. There is great VALUE in you just being you. For people to FEEL comfortable around you, you have to become vulnerable. You have to embrace your MESS and have it become your MESSage. You cannot expect people to open up to you and tell you what their REAL problems are if they don’t feel like there is a real, genuinely interested human being behind the marketing. And if you don’t know what their real problems are, you don’t know how to help them.

EVERY top producer in this industry has turned their MESS into their MESSage. Just look around the Better Networker Community. I am sure that you know all of the stories; Joe Schroeder, Diane Hochman, Mike Dillard, Ann Sieg. Each and everyone of these folks started out at the bottom and learned how to take their MESS and craft an authentic story that allowed people to get to know them in a very personal, human kind of way. Before people buy something from you, they have to buy into you.

People are really skeptical today and with good reason. The attraction marketing systems out there are creating what I call “instant gurus“. At first glance, it is really hard to tell who’s who any more. But, people are not stupid. They are taking their time to choose the right person to do business with.

What does that mean to you as a marketer? People are WATCHING what you do. You must really BE who you say you are in your marketing. You have got to walk your talk. You have got to be consistent. You have got to be honest. The minute that you do something that is inconsistent with your message, a huge red flag pops up and you are toast. The trust that you worked so hard to build with your people has been broken and they are done with you.

People are looking for leaders who can help them solve their problems. They are searching for value providers that they can relate to, open up to and trust. They want to know that the person they are looking at for that leadership is who they say they are. When you consistently deliver what you say you are going to deliver, people feel as though you are worthy of their trust and they have faith and belief in you as a human being. That is when you turn skeptics into believers.