I have been addressing government and corporate audiences recently on the importance of Trust in their relationships with citizens, customers, patients etc. I find that the message gets accross immediately when I ask them to take off their 'corporate hats' and listen to what I am saying as a parent, an employee, a consumer. They then stop thinking of my 'Trust is the new Green' as a soft, warm and cuddly emotional marketing tactic and realise that this has a real measurable positive effect upon their Health, Wealth and Happiness and therefore your bottom line.
The global public relations firm Edelman recently published its 10th annual “Trust Barometer.” This survey indicates that 62 percent of the 4,500-plus global respondents trust corporations less this year than they did last year, based upon a survey conducted Nov. 5 to Dec. 14, 2008. Seventy-seven percent of U.S. respondents say they trust corporations less this year.
A recent survey of 1,200 people conducted by strategic brand consulting firm Siegel+Gale shows that trust in financial-services companies has dropped nearly 40 percent in the past year. Nearly two-thirds of those respondents also believe that businesses complicate their processes and communications in an attempt to mask real risks. This is a stunning indictment of the financial establishment.
To quiet some of the likely cynics out there, I offer you proof — both medical and financial. The giving away of trust stimulates the release of a bonding hormone called oxytocin in humans, according to research by the Cognitive Neuroscience Group at the Center for Psychiatry & Psychotherapy at Justus-Liebig University in Germany. When released, oxytocin floods the brain with a feeling of well-being, and fear is reduced.
Trust pays dividends in the business world, too. A 2002 study of 350 buyer/supplier relationships among eight automakers in the U.S., Japan and South Korea identified a direct relationship between trust and transaction costs. The least-trusted buyer incurred procurement costs six times higher than the most-trusted. These additional costs came from the added resources that went into the selection, negotiation and compliance costs of executing deals.
You can read the complete article here I am now talking to organisations, public and private, about providing X-RM tools and services to provide their audience with a voice. Don't market at them but listen and respond! CRM has its place and VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) will address the consumer but the same principals apply in our roles as a Citizen, Employee, Patient, Student, etc. As I have said before, if you really want to regain Trust you need to start by trusting them.
