Discussing Trust with Cairbe Sugrue at #dellB2B

So in the search for finding power and a seat, my typing fingers weren’t as fast during this session but trust is an interesting one. It’s something hard gained and very easily lost.

In crisis situations people want to hear from more individuals. We’ll listen to friends, trust some bloggers and are going to more spaces for information but the CEO must also be a prominent voice. Examples like Dominoes come to mind but recently Sony and Rim have tried to follow suit (though the timeline led to the downfall of the success - they took too long to be transparent. Timeliness has to be as important as transparency).

Generally people need to hear things 3-5 times, but if they trust you they only need to hear it once or twice. I’ve never considered that, but it’s true - I’ll click through to a link, I’ll head to an event, I’ll try a product, if a trusted person or publication has recommended it. It’s the same during crisis. I’m more likely to trust a company if they build up the trust with me beforehand. I’ll be more likely to believe them.

So in order to gain trust, we need to have more substance and have long term planning - you have to show strong commitment. It follows the adage, do what you’ll say you’ll do.

Crawl, walk, run, fly. I think more companies should think that way.

To see the full slides or Cairbe Sugrue’s presentation, head over to: http://www.edelman.com/trust/2011/