So you want a relationship with your customer? If one of your greatest hopes is for your brand to be loved by your customers, think about what it takes for your personal relationships to thrive. Since customers (even B2B) are people, they tend to have similar responses to relationship strengths and weaknesses whether the relationship is personal or with a brand. As you know from your own experiences, trust and respect for your choices are at the root of relationship failure or success. Yet, customers’ trust of companies is steadily eroding! In fact, U.S. consumers’ trust dropped a whopping 8 points from 2010 to 2011 in the Edelman Trust Barometer study, and U.S. and U.K. firms rank 8th and 9th in trustworthiness, behind Brazil, India, Italy, China, Germany, and France.
Astoundingly, trust of banks dropped 46 points in the U.S. and 30 points in the U.K over the past three years. Only one in four people in these countries feel they can trust banks to do what is right. In 2008, U.S. automobiles were the lowest ranking industry, but they have managed to bounce back with a 17 point gain. Hindsight may be a great teacher here, as we’ve observed self-centeredness in these industries in recent times. In the interest of maximizing short-term financial performance, these companies seem to have forgotten that relationships are a two-way street. Once trust is eroded, any amount of advertising and sweet-talking tends to have little effect.
For so many reasons, it’s essential to maintain high trust with your customers. If you love someone, set them free. Yet, long-term (e.g. one-year, two-year) agreements, exclusions, caveats, change fees, extensive fine print, extra steps (hassles), and many other penalties are the norm in several industries. Read more in the full article text here.