Building Trust: The Key to Future-Proofing your Business Pt 2

Written By Lucy Rennie

“The principle of social proof says so: The greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct.” — Robert B. Cialdini.

This is Part 2 of my Building trust: The key to Future-Proofing your business episode where I’m taking you through my 14 step checklist to build the trust factor in your business. If you haven’t already listened to Part 1 from last week, episode 57 I highly recommend you start there and then come back to listen to the 2nd half.

Resources

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  • Future Proof Your Business EP58

    [00:00:00] Lucy Rennie: Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Future Proof Your Business Podcast. I'm Lucy Rennie. And as you can see, I am still in Anglesey as I'm recording this. And yeah, if you listened to last week's episode, you'll know, I was talking all about the 14 steps to building that invisible trust checklist, trust factor checklist for your business, for your brand, for you as a business owner.

    [00:00:22] Lucy Rennie: And me being me. I just, yeah, I love talking about this stuff and I could talk about it for hours and hours. So as normal, I did, I spoke for about an hour and so we decided to split into two parts. So you will have already listened to part one. If you haven't go back and listen to last week's episode, if you have already listened to that episode and you want to hear the next the next points the next half of the checklist, then.

    [00:00:46] Lucy Rennie: Please keep listening and let me know what you think. Get in touch and tell me have I missed anything? What do you think is the most important? Maybe you disagree with some of them or maybe maybe you think that like me building trust and goodwill for your brand is really important.

    [00:01:00] Lucy Rennie: So on that note, I'm going to let you tap into the second half of this. The episode and I will see you next week for another episode of the Futureproof Business Podcast. Thanks for listening. Take care.

    [00:01:11] Lucy Rennie: Number six, review results I've put and demonstrate and communicate the impact that you make. And I suppose this kind of ties in again with everything that we've been saying, and it's not about being shouty and going, Oh, made seven, eight figures or being salesy and icky. It's actually checking in with what you're doing.

    [00:01:27] Lucy Rennie: Have you delivered on what you said you were going to do? And sometimes that's just as a business owner or as an internal team to know, is things, are things working? Or do we need to tweak? Do we need to change? Do we need to adapt? All those kinds of things. And we'll talk about that in the lean manufacturing point in a second.

    [00:01:41] Lucy Rennie: But it's not necessarily about broadcasting it to the world. It might just be about sharing with your team about the figures, about where you're up to, about giving them feedback from customers or just. Maybe even recognizing them for their achievements that they've made or those kind of things.

    [00:01:55] Lucy Rennie: But my, I suppose my point is be the one to be proactive, so give the information before people ask for it and don't be afraid to say this didn't work or, Maybe we could have done better here. I think, again, it's that humility and being more real in terms of what you're doing because nobody's perfect.

    [00:02:12] Lucy Rennie: And we're going to talk about that as well in a little bit, but let's use this to, embrace best practice and be honest about what we're doing. And also it allows us to really focus on impact and results. So the fact that actually we are reporting in on these things, that we are actually checking in with people, that we are actually showcasing, the value that we're adding, then it makes sure that we're all focused on the most important things. And that might be simply even just like internally to having a like a quarterly pulse survey with your team, just to again, I'll create a podcast on that actually. We'll do something more about pulse surveys because I'm a massive believer in them and it's just like taking the temperature of your teams, just to check in with them.

    [00:02:50] Lucy Rennie: It's always the same kind of questions or the same questions. And we just check in to see whether everything's okay. It's a really good way of just monitoring what's going on. And. Yeah. So if we can demonstrate the impact that you're having as well, it's a great way to yeah, to show that you're doing things in the right way, that you've got those systems in place, that you are in control of what you're doing and that, you are credible and that you are actually delivering on your promises.

    [00:03:14] Lucy Rennie: It's funny because there's a couple of examples I've got here where somebody that I've been working with recently he went and did some experience in a different business and it. Bigger business working with massive brands. And one of the biggest takeaways that he had was just all the approval levels, that he couldn't get anything, had to get every single little step approved.

    [00:03:33] Lucy Rennie: And there's a reason for that. It's because actually, there's a, the consequences for things that we do. But secondly, it's also part of, what I do with, in my mentoring program is that's the trust factor is that we can develop and train the in house teams, but at the same time, I've got the trust of the business owner or the leadership team that actually, we're overseeing things and making sure that actually we are moving in the right direction and we are protecting the brand or the team and those kinds of things.

    [00:03:58] Lucy Rennie: And a great example of that, which I think again, is going to be some something for. Future content is what's going on with Nike and the England flag. Okay. So yeah, I'll leave that there for now, but I think we're definitely going to have to come back and explore what that all means. And that really ties in, doesn't it?

    [00:04:14] Lucy Rennie: With that reviewing, who has actually allowed that to happen? How did nobody pick up on that and the potential consequences of what. What might've happened to it. And again, that ties in then with number seven, which is all about lean manufacturing and the idea of kind of continuous improvement, never sitting still, and I talked about the CPD side of things as well and I suppose really this is my background, but I'm just a massive believer in the fact that we should always be looking to improve, always thinking about self development, about training, whether that's for us, for our team for whoever we're working with, but not sitting on our laurels, is the expression.

    [00:04:50] Lucy Rennie: And yeah, just developing our knowledge at this time, going back, I was talking about being ethical and all those things. So sometimes actually, I was doing my CPD just recently, and one of the, we have to do a certain number of points based on ethics. And so some of the training was simply just reading through case studies of other examples of businesses where there's been.

    [00:05:12] Lucy Rennie: A challenge, an ethical challenge where it wasn't, cut and dry. And because nobody has all the right answers, but it was more about what was the guidance given and what was the best practice way of doing it. And it just allows you to think differently or maybe be equipped to manage it if it comes your way, something like that.

    [00:05:27] Lucy Rennie: So really, I think it's just about keeping on the

    move and keeping, you know. Because yeah, I do believe that you can't, you can't sit still because once you sit still, then actually, because we live in this massive dynamic world at the moment you sit still, actually you fall far behind.

    [00:05:42] Lucy Rennie: Number eight is all about social proof. And again, I think this is going to be a whole other module that I'll create. And I talk about a lot of this in the book. In fact, there's a whole chapter about. What I call the trip advisor effect, which is basically the fact that, we get trust through association, actually, that we want to, we believe other people, we want to hear what other people their experiences of the brand of the business of working for such a, an employer.

    [00:06:04] Lucy Rennie: And that's what we take into account much more now, really, than a lot of the advertising and the kind of the paid for promotion. In fact, it's, I think it's Robert Kildini who he talks about influencing the psychology of persuasion, but he says we view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it.

    [00:06:22] Lucy Rennie: Basically meaning that if we see somebody else doing it, either buying a product. Or visiting somewhere or talking about something or reading a book, whatever it might be, then we're more likely to go if they're doing it, I'll do it too. So it's that sort of social proof in that sense. So yeah, that might be the TripAdvisor effect, but it could also be just about talking about who else buys your products or services.

    [00:06:41] Lucy Rennie: So maybe a page on your website with your customer logos on it might be testimonials from them or reviews. But also just maybe it's some collaborations to show that you're connected with certain people, or maybe that you are, I don't know Maybe you Could deliver a talk or a presentation or a webinar at a different association or something that sort of, again, puts another piece of that puzzle together that allows you to move forward on that.

    [00:07:06] Lucy Rennie: Number nine is all about key milestones and statistics. The key here is to be really intentional in line with your values about why you're sharing this. So it's not just about throwing key stats out or data and things and going there, look at me. It's more about thinking, okay, so how are these going to help that person to build that

    subconscious list of trust factors.

    [00:07:24] Lucy Rennie: So things like number of years in business. So this is my ninth year. But I can also talk about the fact that I've been doing this for like over 25 years. Number of clients or products or services sold. So depending on the business that you've got, depending on, what's relevant to your customers and what they're interested in, it might be that, you've created millions of hand controls for disabled vehicles.

    [00:07:45] Lucy Rennie: Or it might be that you've made curly cable that can outperform the competitor. What else? Sales figures. Yeah, I've talked about that. So some people love to share how much money they make. And again, if it's relevant and appropriate, then absolutely let's go for it and share it. But let's not also use it just as a kind of a braggy way where actually it can actually maybe distort or tell a different story that's maybe not a genuine story.

    [00:08:12] Lucy Rennie: It might be just simple things to talk about in terms of number of employees. If you've gone through a massive growth period, then your employees might have doubled or tripled or whatever that might be. And actually that tells the story in its own way, doesn't it? In fact, that you're, you're growing, you're becoming more of a, a substantial local employer, or maybe you're a good employer or whatever that might be, it might be employee turnover rate, again, good or bad sides of the story, what you want to.

    [00:08:37] Lucy Rennie: Think about absenteeism rate. There's all sorts of different key stats and figures that we can use and think about even just simply things like the number of sites that you've got, the number of countries that you that you can buy your products and services in, or that yeah, that we can find your products or services.

    [00:08:52] Lucy Rennie: Or it might be like I was saying about me with my French, it might be the number of languages that you speak. I could say, yeah, I speak five languages, but actually my Italian, I can probably just get by in a little bit, have a conversation, German and Spanish. Spanish the same, but actually it's only French and English that I'm fluent in.

    [00:09:07] Lucy Rennie: So again, depending on how we're turning on

    the story that we want to tell and how honest we are, we're going to then build that puzzle in the right way to build those trust elements for our customers, for our stakeholders. What else would I put in terms of that? So yeah, that could be accreditation, accreditations as well.

    [00:09:22] Lucy Rennie: So maybe if you're ADR ISO, if it's whatever it might be, include them because sometimes by not including them, people make up their own assumptions of, Oh, they're not, they mustn't be there or they haven't got it or because they're not talking about it. And then number 10 is about showing you care.

    [00:09:39] Lucy Rennie: And this really goes back to the felt leadership from last week. But it's about compassion and this is just about being real to who you are. Taking the time to actually engage with your teams, your customers, your partners, or the key stakeholder. Make it personal, have that open doors policy.

    [00:09:53] Lucy Rennie: And then I remember in, I think it was like 2008 or nine, I was on a massive campaign in ArcelorMittal Working with the senior execs about a campaign. I called it just the little things. And it was at the time, don't you remember? And maybe it's going further back. I can't remember. It's, it was when we had Blackberries and it was, everybody was traveling and suddenly we had these emails where we could send an email that wasn't on our computer, it was just on our phone.

    [00:10:16] Lucy Rennie: And it changed the way that we communicated with those teams who were more in the office. So weren't out and about traveling all the time. And so what happened was that these. Senior execs were replying to emails, just going, yes, thumbs up, no action, please do whatever. There was no, hi, there was no how are you doing?

    [00:10:35] Lucy Rennie: There was no connection. There was no relationship and there was no sometimes even please or thank you. And so the campaign I went on, it wasn't about adding in a load of fluff because that's another story, but it was actually just about maintaining that courtesy and maintaining that relationship and not treating people as if they were just a robotic , BlackBerry phone thing.

    [00:10:53] Lucy Rennie: And so that's the thing I'd like to really encourage you to do is think about the little things and it's sometimes it's

    just about the little details that you can remember. Like names of people's children, pets, partners, the holidays they've been going on, key dates, maybe projects that they've worked on or things that they do, particular skills, or just the little details that if you can remember them will really demonstrate to people that you care and that you've thought about them and that you value them.

    [00:11:16] Lucy Rennie: And, if you need a CRM or if you need a way of noting that down, then absolutely do it. But I promise you, that's going to make a world of difference in terms of building that trust and that relationship with people and really showing that you care. And ultimately, of course, that goes with the fact that we want to have these two way communications, which means that, we want to be asking questions as well as listening and doing all the things that we, we should be doing.

    [00:11:36] Lucy Rennie: I've got a whole episode 26 on actually, are you really listening? Which I really encourage you to go and just have a reminder because it's mind blowing when you actually notice how rubbish we are at listening to people. So yeah. And then leading on from that, talking about this two way communication and really talking with our teams or with our customers It's something that's really, really that has resonated with me for a long time, but it's that concept, that idea that silence is never golden.

    [00:12:05] Lucy Rennie: And what we mean by that is we have this kind of, I think sometimes we can have this sort of what do I want to say? Reflex where we think, Oh, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to tell him because I don't want to worry them. Or I'm not going to share like, The bad news. I'm just going to talk about the good stuff because don't want to upset people.

    [00:12:23] Lucy Rennie: And it's, it comes from a good place a lot of the time, but what happens is if we only shared a good stuff, then we actually lose a lot of the trust because people don't take us seriously. Take it for real. They don't trust that actually we're telling them the whole story. And very often it's because we're not, because we're actually, we're, we're safeguarding them from, we're protecting them from maybe the, the trickier things, whether that's about, I don't know, not enough sales or whether it's something that's happening, or maybe it's a situation.

    [00:12:49] Lucy Rennie: And we talk, a lot of that has been really relevant with COVID with the cost of living crisis and the recession and the. The different things that have been going on we do it a lot, don't we? With, as parents, with our kids, it's we want to protect them, but actually sometimes it's much more powerful if we can let them in and share that and empower them and give them that information, because actually what we're doing is we're giving them an opportunity to step up, to take responsibility and to be involved in that.

    [00:13:14] Lucy Rennie: So I really would encourage you to reframe and think differently about how you do this. And it goes again with, again with that felt leadership and that sort of starting at the top. It's the same when we're talking about, change management and we're talking about sharing that vision.

    [00:13:31] Lucy Rennie: We've got to let people in. We've got to let them see where we're going and why we're doing it and what the benefit is to them and why we need them to do what we want them to do or need them to do because. It's part of it. If they don't know, and we're just asking them to show up every day and just do what we want to do, or we're just, selling a product or services, but not really explaining the kind of the story behind it, then we're missing out on a massive opportunity to get people to really tap in and build and engage and feel fulfilled in what they're doing.

    [00:13:58] Lucy Rennie: Number 12 is about keeping your promises. So we've talked a lot about this, I think already, haven't we? But doing what you say you're going to do. So that might just be as simple as like emails, dates, actions, big or small. And. This is for me, it's a massive learning curve that I'm still working on and constantly checking in on myself and I don't get it right half the time.

    [00:14:18] Lucy Rennie: Because I have so many emails, so many WhatsApp, so many different messages coming at me all the time that it's really tricky to stay on top of things. Especially when I'm juggling kids and I'm trying to have that family time and all those things. I know I'm rubbish sometimes at replying in the right way or promptly or so I'm working really hard on putting the systems in place to make sure and managing people's expectations in that way so that I can improve on that.

    [00:14:41] Lucy Rennie: But it does make a massive difference and it's just about keeping promises. And sometimes that starts with yourself, doesn't it? It's those keeping your promises. If you say you're going to go to the gym or go for a run actually go and do the run, like I actually did it today. I went for a massive run in the blustery gales that are blowing up here in Anglesey and it was gorgeous.

    [00:14:58] Lucy Rennie: But I'd been saying to. I told myself nearly all week that I was going to go and do it and it's only today that I finally did it. It just feels so much better for doing it. And with that in mind, number 13 is really important but it's about embracing being imperfectly perfect. And again what I mean by this is Building trust and goodwill doesn't mean you always have to get it right, doesn't mean you have to be perfect.

    [00:15:20] Lucy Rennie: And actually, if we take into account all the other different parts of the puzzle, being genuine, being vulnerable sometimes, being bringing that positive realism not just sharing the good stuff, that imperfection is really important. It makes us relatable as well makes us, helps us to connect to other people.

    [00:15:38] Lucy Rennie: And sometimes actually getting something wrong. If something goes wrong or you fail on something or there's, I don't know, something doesn't go to plan. The fact that you've got this trust and that goodwill allows you to either get the benefit of the doubt, but also just people are okay with that because it's how you deal with it.

    [00:15:57] Lucy Rennie: So sometimes by being imperfect and getting it wrong, but actually showing that you're going above and beyond to turn it around and make sure that, you've fixed it or you've found a different solution or that you've been honest and owned up or you've shown up in the right way is, it's actually more powerful than getting it right every time and just being perfect on it all.

    [00:16:14] Lucy Rennie: So actually let's embrace being imperfectly perfect and just really trying our hardest to do a good job. And then finally, number 14. Which maybe I could start with at the top. And like I said to you, all of these different points, actually, I could definitely defend as in the most important is joy.

    [00:16:32] Lucy Rennie: And I think there's something about actually

    being loving what you do and actually bringing the passion and really sort of. Creating a shitload of tummy flips for yourself and for the people that you're working with or that you're selling to and getting them excited about what you're doing is massive and goes a long way in terms of building that trust and that goodwill because people can see that you really care.

    [00:16:52] Lucy Rennie: People can see that you give a shit. People can see and believe. It goes back to that ABCD of Ken Blanchard, but it's the believing it bit. It's the felt leadership. It's the showing that you care, but being believed that you care. Okay. And that comes from joy. That comes from smiling. That comes from getting excited.

    [00:17:08] Lucy Rennie: That comes from enthusiasm and encouragement and all those things. So sometimes just showing up, smiling and again, that works the other way, doesn't it? Sometimes having the real tears and being upset about things. It's showing that you care and it's showing that you're passionate about what you do.

    [00:17:23] Lucy Rennie: And, that's the whole emphasis, behind me and my for the love of small business, because it's ultimately that is, I think that if we can create amazing businesses that people love to work in, that people love to buy from, then what more do we need in the world in terms of getting us excited and doing good things?

    [00:17:42] Lucy Rennie: So yeah, that, those are my 14 kind of points on my Invisible Trust Factor checklist. Thank you for listening to this the second half of that.

    [00:17:51] Lucy Rennie: We split this in half and given you two parts, which is cool. I'd love to hear what you think and if there's anything missing off my checklist. Yeah, what would you, if there's, is there one that you'd put at the top? Maybe there's one that you don't agree with or maybe I've missed something out, but let me know.

    [00:18:06] Lucy Rennie: And my challenge I suppose this week is for you just to check in with all of these different points and see where you fall, where maybe if it's a nudge, a refresh or just a kind of a refocus, then as we move into Q2, have a think about what that means. But yeah, I'd just like to say thank you for listening.

    [00:18:22] Lucy Rennie: If you found it useful and please, I would really appreciate it. If you would share it with. Other people you think might benefit click subscribe and ideally leave me a review because it's the best way, again, of getting that social proof and showing that actually sometimes I do know what I'm talking about.

    [00:18:37] Lucy Rennie: But also I'm going to pop the link in because I'm going to be doing a masterclass on the 18th of April, Thursday evening at seven o'clock. And it's, I promise it's not a webinar I'm going to sell to you at the end. It's literally me just updating people. I'm giving a little bit more of the behind the scenes on my book and.

    [00:18:52] Lucy Rennie: Really thinking about the sort of what's going on in the world and giving people some tips, tricks some exercises, things to think about and a bit of a discussion as well, get some feedback in terms of what's going on and how as business owners and our teams, we can do all that we can to create brilliant places to work.

    [00:19:09] Lucy Rennie: So on that note, I'm going to leave you. And I will see you next week for another episode of the future business podcast. Thanks for listening.

Lucy Rennie
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