It's ALL About Trust & Confidence

When I was working in the computer industry years ago, I used to be baffled every time I lost a sale to IBM. I had the better product -- often by far -- I had the better technology, the better software, etc. I was an excellent salesperson, and excellent presenter and often established a close rapport with my intended clients. But again and again I lost the sale to IBM.

Why? Trust and confidence. IBM had the trust and confidence of the prospective consumer even if they didn't have the best solution. At the time, buyers took the attitude that if it were, in any way, a risky decision between any two vendors, go with IBM. You couldn't go wrong with IBM.

Trust and confidence is as powerful a decision force today as it ever was then. In fact, it may be MORE powerful than it was then. This is particularly true when doing business over the Internet -- you don't know who is on the other side of the network, but you do know that it's easy to look good on the Internet. Spam and phishing scams teach us that every day. But Internet net or not, it always pays to make sure you cover the trust and confidence dimensions of your product or service positioning.

How do you do that? How do you gain trust and confidence when you're new and small and unknown? Here's a few tips...

(1) Focus on customer lists, customer testimonials, and customer case studies. Make sure your marketing materials and web materials have a large number of customer pull-quotes, customer lists, and real-life case studies. These are more credible than more superlative copywriting.

(2) Focus on getting and communicating 3rd-party assessments of your products and services. Participating in product showcases, getting press pickups from a news release, and getting analyst or editorial reviews are excellent ways of getting credible 3rd-party assessments.

(3) Offer a free trial. If you can't do something to immediately improve the perception of trust and confidence, then reduce the risk. Allow your prospective customer to use the product free.

(4) Offer a strong guarantee. Same principle, reduce the risk.

(5) On the web, especially, consider subscribing to various authentication and validation services -- You can get TrustE, a non-profit web certification organization, or Better Business Bureau's BBBOnline, to certify your website.

These are but of few methods to boost your credibility and trust. Don't use just one, use them all! Look for more ways, too!

Here's a novel way that one client of mine found. The company produced a retail product that was sold through retail office-supply stores. Each year the company took out one small ad, in a regional edition of TIME magazine -- the least expensive ad they could buy. Then, for the rest of the year, they placed an outside wrap around their product that said: "As advertised in Time Magazine!" Clever. (But it's worth keeping in mind that even a small ad in Time Magazine is not cheap.)

Bottom Line: Every increase you get in the consumer's trust and confidence will pay you back again and again and again. Go for it!