The Secret to Brand Trust: Listen More Than You Speak

Authentic messaging and nurturing partnerships build long-term trust with customers in this distrustful age.

As a business leader, should you focus first on building personal trust with your consumers or on building your brand’s reputation?

Here’s the quick answer: People buy from people. And that means personal trust is the bedrock upon which your brand reputation is built and sustained—especially today when public trust in U.S. institutions and big business remains low. Having public trust in experts matters more than ever.

It helps your consumers—and your bottom line—when customers feel that you, the thoughtful entrepreneur, can relate to them and their needs. When we feel that someone understands us, we’re more likely to trust them. That trust comes from finding common ground—shared values, concerns, problems, goals, and experiences.

Data underscores the importance of building and sustaining brand trust in the digital era: About 40 percent of Americans will no longer use a brand they don’t trust. In comparison, four out of five millennials buy products and services from brands they trust.

Two ears, one mouth

Your potential customers want a leader who can empathize with them, which requires truly listening to them. The secret to building and measuring brand trust starts with something simple: demonstrating core qualities like listening more than speaking. That’s how someone building a business finds common ground—and creates a long-term relationship in the process.

Establishing common ground can be as simple as displaying your company values in customer-facing material such as proposal and email templates and your website, and “walking the walk” by holding 1:1 feedback sessions with clients. Leaders who actively listen to customer needs and concerns understand them and are better equipped to offer solutions. Brand communities reflect the common ground leaders and their companies have found with their customers.

The Greek philosopher Epictetus reminds us that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. You should use them proportionately. Build a relationship focused on the needs of others rather than pushing your own needs, to lay the foundation for trust and reputation.

Conversely, not listening to your customers and instead making decisions in silos without input destroys that trust. Making decisions about what customers value without asking them is limiting. It’s foolish and disrespectful to your audience to think that you have all the answers.

Customers and potential customers notice. They feel unheard or misunderstood, and when they see a company completely missing the mark, a light goes on in their heads telling them they’re not in a two-way relationship. This can drive them to look for another company and a different solution. They will look for someone else whom they can trust with their investment of money and time.

I speak with clients weekly, regularly sharing their feedback with my company’s internal leaders. Most clients appreciate the opportunity to share what went well, what could be done differently, and other thoughts to help us improve. Monitoring social media for client responses is certainly revealing, but direct conversation with clients is often more effective. One reason is that you receive their tone and their thoughts. Also, a conversation allows both sides to veer into directions spontaneously, covering more ground, whereas a written survey doesn’t have that flexibility. Still, well thought out, comprehensive surveys are useful. Build in feedback moments throughout the organization, both 1:1 and through surveys and emails, providing anonymity options.

Build trust with authenticity

One of the consequences of this relatively new digital age has been the increasing distance between some brands and their audiences.

Post-COVID, and with the rise of AI, distrust has become part of that distance. With AI, you can’t always trust the authenticity. Frankly, sometimes you’re not sure if a blog, article, or social media content was generated by the brand or even approval by its leader.

Authenticity is critical. Entrepreneurs and thought leaders need to connect with the public through their own media messages, ensuring that content lives in a trusted place such as a personal website, LinkedIn, or the company website for full content accountability.

It’s vital that you close the distance with your audience and have 1:1 relationships. This builds trust. Thought leaders can develop customer and potential customer relationships through live platforms such as in-person or virtual events, feedback calls, and social media. Those are high-visibility places to connect in conversations, address specific needs, and answer questions. To get and keep their attention, entrepreneurs and thought leaders should demonstrate empathy for the audience’s values and needs, providing concrete guidance and expecting nothing in return. Those qualities will help you stand apart as a business leader offering more than something to sell.

Value partnerships over transactional relationships

Today, when trust is so fragile, you need to be careful to avoid trust-destroying mistakes.

Perhaps the biggest one is viewing the relationship more like a transaction than a partnership. Otherwise, the business leader focuses on the short term and what they’re getting out of that transaction. Along with losing referrals, you can damage your reputation and be labelled as someone who only sees dollar signs—not someone who values people.

Some major companies have taken hits to their image for treating customers as sales numbers rather than people. Comcast’s retention call scandal, where a company rep wouldn’t let a customer cancel their service, went viral. Comcast faced considerable criticism, prompting them to reform their customer service practices. An egregious example on a larger scale was the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to access millions of users’ data without proper transparency or consent, prioritizing data monetization and third-party partnerships. Facebook owner Meta agreed to pay $725 million to settle the legal action and the reputation hit has lingered.

Trust is the centrepiece of a win-win relationship

Building trust with your audience impacts sales, brand loyalty, and long-term customer engagement enormously.

When your customers feel your company is invested in them, they become your company’s advocate.

People who are shopping for specific solutions are also looking for common ground and for someone who truly cares. As an entrepreneur and thought leader, if you meet them where they are—and as who you say you are—you’re on your way to knowing the secret to brand trust.