Ten insights from the B2B sector about Building Trust

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In the latest Great Debate at the magnificent Crystal Building in London we discussed the most fundamental component of B2B customer relationships: Trust. Three speakers from industry gave us their insight supplemented with interactive workshops, which led to our debate. Here are ten insights gleaned from the discussion:

  1. Proper trust has to be two-way, with a clear understanding on both sides of needs and requirements
  2. There’s a huge difference in the way staff talk between “my customer” and “our customer”. People can create silos around customers because they believe the relationship is based on them – not the company. These companies then miss opportunities to cross sell and give a consistent customer experience
  3. Revisit your company values if there’s no mention of trust or honesty/integrity. Train trust in your people, who need to have the right personal values first and a clear culture of trust in which they operate – or it won’t work
  4. Don’t be afraid of price negotiations! A customer starting with the price is not a direct challenge to the trust you have built – it’s just a tactic they’re using. Good negation skills development can help you flip the discussion into a meaningful conversation around relationship, trust and value
  5. When relationships have deteriorated in B2B both parties have to have a common need to work together to fix the relationship – it’s not like B2C when a customer can often just walk away
  6. If you can’t deliver on a promise/commitment you must be honest about it, as it gives you the opportunity to turn the negative situation into a positive resolution that boosts trust
  7. Deep Interdependence gets to a point where companies are so reliant on each other that a logical next step could be takeover or merger. Otherwise there is the danger of losing them to a competitor
  8. You can become TOO interdependent – i.e. over dependent – there is a risk that challenge and healthy debate become unwelcome in the relationship. It is never healthy for any company to have too much reliance on a few customers – can lead to over dependent behaviours or loss of real independence as a business
  9. Why should we build trust with customers who are just out to screw their suppliers?! Well, two wrongs don’t make a right – work on an “everyday trust” basis (bottom rung of the Trust Ladder) with those and pick the good customers to develop trust-based relationships with
  10. Trust DOES pay back – leads to more repeat business and ‘annuity’ revenue

Do you have a view on this?  // or //

Peter Lavers
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