Last week I mused about the importance of "who we are" and the age old truism that there are really only two reasons that people do business with you; 1.  because they like you and  2. because they trust you.   Products and services can be quantified, qualified, compared, analyzed and shopped for price.  You however are unique.  There's no one else like you.  You make an impact on people, good or bad.  And of course the company you own or work for has an impact on whether someone might like or dislike you, trust or distrust you, but it's not as important as who you are.  I asked you if you have success measurement tools that help you keep score on how well you're paying attention to these two factors?   And I said I'd put money on the fact that you don't.  I hope I said don't, be dismayed that you don't have any metrics because they are really, really hard to define.  But of course that doesn't mean we shouldn't try and I promised to give you some tips about how to get an edge in what I call the "trust based society".

  

Trust has several connotations but overall it's pretty simple right?  One party is willing to rely on the actions of another party.   The trusting party can't be certain about the outcome of the other's actions and can only develop and evaluate expectations.   Research shows that humans have a natural disposition to trust and to judge trustworthiness built on years of relationships within the social and business groups they interact with.

Five things I believe you must to do:  (And yes, they are somewhat in order of importance)

When it comes to the relationship between people and technology trust is tough.  And the rapid pace of technology doesn't make things any easier.  The degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of what one sees - the honesty, fairness, or benevolence of another party.  The term "confidence" is more appropriate for a belief in the competency of the other party. And just so you know, a lapse in trust is forgiven most easily if it is interpreted as a lack of competence rather than a lack of honesty.   That's why competency is last in the list.  You need it but it's not as important as most people think.

  

I see trust as an economic lubricant.  It reduces the friction and cost of transactions between parties, enabling new forms of cooperation and generally furthering business activities.   Low levels of trust inhibit economic growth.  Hmm, that doesn't say much for some of the shenanigans we're seeing our governmental leaders seem to be engaged in does it?

  

If you ever get an email from me you'll notice that I include a tagline of   "Authenticity, period." Or "Trust, it's the new currency".  I do that so I reinforce that trust is THE most important thing in any type of relationship.  Break it and its "game over".   So while it's getting harder and harder as our world grows larger and more complex with multitudes of "relationships" of all types to build trust, it's the Holy Grail!   Your thoughts?