Trust is a topic I’ve addressed many times in the past. The reason I like to talk about it is I believe it is the bedrock upon which every successful organization is built. And I believe the way in which we build trust with our customers is critical.

Webster’s defines trust as a “confident expectation” of something. Doesn’t that make sense? More than anything, we want to feel confident about the products and services we consume. But in this day and age, would you agree that we approach providers with a certain level of suspicion when it comes to trust?

I received an e-mail the other day from my bank, thanking me for my business and telling me how much they appreciate my trust in them. This from a bank that recently was fined $350 million for fraudulent loans (to be fair, the unfair practices were actually perpetrated by a mortgage company the bank purchased). A bank that attempted to impose a fee for using my debit card until its customers revolted and started heading for the exits in droves. I appreciate that they appreciate me, but I still read each monthly statement scrupulously, looking for any hidden fees.

Early in December, I purchased a new bicycle for my wife as a Christmas present. The store informed me the bicycle would be available for pickup the following week. When I returned more than two weeks later, I was informed the bike had been back-ordered and would not be delivered to the store until mid-February at the earliest. No bike to tie a holiday ribbon around. And a disappointing two and a half hour drive to the city where the bike was purchased.

Obviously, I was not pleased by this turn of events, a problem compounded by an indifferent clerk who waited on me. My trust in this store being able to deliver on its promise was shaken. Before reaching home, however, the original woman who waited on me called to inform us that she had checked several other stores and had managed to locate the bike my wife wanted. Instead of waiting two months to receive the bike, it would be ready for pickup in less than two weeks. She also was most apologetic for the delay and miscommunication. Her concern and efforts on our behalf helped restore my trust in their business.

Marketeers today spend lots of time inventing new ways to ask for and thank us for our trust. But if you’re like me, you don’t put much stock in those words. Rather, you observe their behavior. How do they demonstrate they are trustworthy? In what ways do they show they are more concerned with meeting your needs than they are their own? And how do they respond when that trust is shaken by an unfortunate incident or event?

Someone once said that it takes years to build up trust and only seconds to destroy it. Another observed that trust is like a vase: once it’s broken, though you can fix it, the vase will never be the same again.

How much time do you spend thinking about building trust with your customers? What do you do in order to earn it? And what do you do to keep it?

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