In June 2012 I attended the Bain Net Promoter System (SM) conference in London to become accredited in their system. The course included a presentation from Don Peppers, co-author of Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage.  

Don talked about the growing role trust plays in business success given the increasing speed and transparency of client interactions.  Building Trustability is a proactive approach to accelerate trustworthiness and the proactive protection of client's interests. For example working with clients to review work processes, test assumptions to work flow, and brainstorm ideas to reduce costs. It creates transparency, a prerequisite for trust, but as Don warned…

"Transparency is like disinfectant - it cleans things up but it stings like hell."

An example of proactive trust in action was Amazon's alerts on duplicate orders.  And the UK Building company writing to clients before warranty expiration offering to visit, check and make good at no-charge.

And then there was the experience of the USAA - an insurance company that covers US armed forces personnel.  They sent refund cheques to those customers who were on active service.  The surprising twist - more than 2,500 customers returned their refund to USAA!  The message to the insurance company was "just be there when I need you."

Don also spoke of the Golden Rule of client service - treat a client the way you would want to be treated.

And the upgrade to this - the Platinum Rule.  Treat a client they way they would like to be treated.   

FURTHER READING

Bain & Co Net Promoter System https://www.bain.com/consulting-services/customer-strategy-and-marketing/customer-loyalty/

Baldoni, J (2008) “How Trustworthy Are You?” Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2008/05/how-trustworthy-are-you

Bennett, M (1979) “Overcoming The Golden Rule: Sympathy & Empathy” , Annals of the International Communication Symposium. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320818681_Overcoming_the_Golden_Rule_Sympathy_and_Empathy

Green C H "(2021) “Understanding The Trust Equation.” https://trustedadvisor.com/why-trust-matters/understanding-trust/understanding-the-trust-equation

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Sue-Ella is the Principal of Prodonovich Advisory, a business dedicated to helping professional services firms sharpen their business development practices, and attract and retain good clients.

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