The Trust Scale
Trust is the linchpin of business…gaining and maintaining trust is a complex human experience.
How this Fragile Scale Tips
Trust isn’t just about your intentions or the truth behind your actions. Trust is heavily influenced by how others perceive your actions. Trust is built incrementally—one consistent action at a time. Conversely, it can be shattered abruptly through a single inconsistent or misunderstood action. This imbalance means that building trust is a slow and deliberate process, whereas losing it can occur in an instant—a scale seemingly rigged against the trust-builder.
Every small, consistent action you take builds trust gradually. These actions serve as proof points of your reliability and integrity. In contrast, even minor inconsistencies can be perceived as major breaches. This delicate balance requires a thoughtful approach to every interaction, ensuring that your actions always align with your promises.
The philosophy of “under-promise and over-deliver” serves as a golden rule for cultivating lasting trust and strong business relationships. To get full value from under-promising and over-delivering, the first step is to agree on exchange of value. This sets the benchmark for under-promising and over-delivering.
Up-front Agreement on Exchange of Value
Setting Expectations: A clear, mutual understanding of the value exchange lays the groundwork for all interactions. By explicitly agreeing on what each party will deliver and receive, you set transparent expectations. This up-front agreement helps avoid misunderstandings and sets a clear framework within which trust can grow.
Under-Promising and Over-Delivering
Why it Works: People are excellent at remembering unkept promises. Even during the busiest times, unmet expectations tend to stick out in one’s memory. On the flip side, exceeding expectations, even in small ways, can significantly boost your credibility and the perceived value of your service or product.
Conclusion
In business, every interaction can be the key to the next problem or the next opportunity. Expectations and perceptions can be managed through under-promising, and over-delivering. When founded on clear agreement on exchange of value and performed consistently, these strategies collectively create a framework for building and maintaining trust and relationships.
While the trust scale is naturally rigged by human biases, you can tip it in your favour!