- to know enough about them to take a "peer" stance with your messaging and content strategies.
- to know what their priority issues are and reach out to help them find solutions.
- to take incremental steps that prove you can be relied upon with each interaction.
- to have the restraint not to push them faster than they're ready to go
- to encourage dialog by becoming a resource they find credible
- to show more interest in them than you do in yourself
An article from
The answer found by the 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer is "People like me." Which is especially interesting when you consider that, in past years, the answers included business leaders, medical professionals and government officials. My how we've changed!
So, what does that mean for marketing and sales communications? It means you need to get to know your prospects, customers and deal influencers intimately. In essence, you need:
This "people like me" response validates how critical generating and leveraging profile intelligence actually is to building dialog that results in relationships based on trust. And, you need to develop strategies for using this information to craft communications that instill confidence with your audience that you can be relied upon to deliver what you promise. Your credibility will grow when the value you deliver is recognized by that audience.
Ultimately, it means that every single interaction, outreach and exchange is focused on what's best for them...not you. But, beyond focusing on them, it means you need to actually have something valuable to provide. This would be your expertise in relation to that problem they're trying to solve. Along with your willingness to freely share it.
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