ABM in the 'Dotlight'

Trust - the glue of B2B Marketing

Why trust is the glue of B2B Marketing

Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that binds all relationships.

So said Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

He goes on to aptly state, "Trust is the one thing that changes everything." This is true not only in our personal lives but also in our professional lives.

In this article I’m going to examine the role of trust in B2B marketing and, in particular, in Account-based Marketing, how to cultivate it, and why it’s integral to the success of every business relationship.

“There's an interesting notion of the trust equation, which says credibility, reliability, and intimacy over self-orientation are what builds trustworthiness.”

Karen Strugnell | Global Client Relationship Marketing Leader | Accenture

Why trust matters
in B2B

Let’s take a look at why trust is crucial in B2B marketing.

1. Long sales cycle

Nobody makes an impulse purchase in B2B. It often involves multiple touchpoints and decisions-makers.

Trust needs to be established and maintained throughout this process to ensure a smooth customer journey and to encourage potential customers to take the next step in the buying process.

Personalizing your messaging and account experience will make you relevant to the account. It will make your key contacts feel that they are important to you.

Jack Rawlings | Head of ABM | strategicabm

2. High stakes poker

Most B2B organizations have spending limits. You know - you can spend less than $x without needing a purchase order, or you can spend up to $y on your company credit card, etc.

These are clearly small purchases that do not have a material impact on the company’s finances or the company’s performance.

When it comes to major purchases we’re all aware how B2B purse strings have tightened and how more and more controls are now put in place.

While the old adage “No one got fired for buying IBM” may have been true in the past the level of risk involved in any major B2B purchase has increased dramatically.

Trust in a vendor’s reliability, product quality, and expertise has now become a crucial factor in any B2B buying committee’s decision making process.

3. Partnership and service

B2B relationships often go (or really should) beyond a single transaction.

They involve ongoing service, support, and sometimes even product customization. Trust is critical in these situations because it reassures customers that they will receive the support and service they require post-sale.

As Karen Strugnell, Global Client Relationship Marketing Leader at Accenture, points out:

Consistency, reliability, and being coherent. These are the sort of behaviors that help to establish trust.

Credit someone here…

4. Reputation

In the B2B world, reputation is everything. To quote the author Stephen Covey again:

"Trust is the one thing that changes everything."

Companies depend on word-of-mouth and referrals to generate an important part of their new business. Equally, buyers self-educate and do their own reference checking asking their communities about vendors and vendor experiences.

Trust plays a significant role in this process, as companies are more likely to recommend vendors they trust to their contacts.

You go back to the old adage that people don't buy from people they don't trust. And consequently, in order to start stimulating those commercial conversations, you need to build trust with the key stakeholders in your target accounts.

Alex Embling | CEO | strategicabm

5. Building relationships

Successful B2B marketing isn't just about one-time sales; it's about building long-term relationships.

Trust is the foundation of any relationship, and it can lead to repeat business, brand loyalty, and brand advocacy.

6. Navigating change

B2B markets are continually evolving, with new technologies and approaches emerging regularly.

In this environment, customers need to trust that their vendors can guide them through these changes and deliver solutions that will keep their businesses competitive.

You can't build a marketing plan to create trust! It's something that happens – and it happens because you have certain behaviors, shared values, etc.

Karen Strugnell, Global Client Relationship Marketing Leader at Accenture

The Trust Equation

To understand trust's complexity, we turn to the trust equation, a model proposed by David Maister, Charles Green, and Robert Galford in their book, "The Trusted Advisor."

While many people are familiar with the trust equation it’s important first to define what trust is.

The authors of The Trusted Advisor define trust as:

Trustworthiness is only one half of what creates a personal relationship of trust - the other half is ‘Trusting’ which can be defined as where one part takes a risk to trust another and the other party proves to be (or not) trustworthy.

The Trust Equation

So let’s take a look and explore more what it means to be trustworthy.
The equation is:

Trustworthiness = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-Orientation

The Trust Equation

So let’s take a look and explore more what it means to be trustworthy.
The equation is:

Trustworthiness = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / Self-Orientation

This refers to the belief that that the person/company we are engaging with has the necessary expertise and skills, e.g. you might say “I trust what he says about Artificial Intelligence; he’s very credible on the subject of AI.”

This concerns our ability to keep promises and deliver on expectations consistently, e.g. you might say “If she says he’ll come through and deliver the meeting he will. I trust her as she has never not delivered.”

The Trust Equation

Trust. It's the basis of any relationship, personal or professional.

Karen Strugnell, Global Client Relationship Marketing Leader at Accenture

This is about the level of safety or security that feel when we entrust someone with something, e.g. you might say “I can share that information with him. He’s never let me down and I know that he will keep that information confidential.”

This relates to our focus – the lesser our self-focus (i.e. the more we focus on the other and less on ourselves) the higher our trustworthiness, e.g. you might say “I’m not sure I can trust her. She’s more interested in what she gets from this deal than what we get from it.”

Trust in corporate relationships

In the corporate world, the Harvard Business Review highlighted that high-trust companies "outperform low-trust companies by nearly 300%" (Paul J. Zak, HBR, 2017).

When trust exists, it facilitates information sharing, encourages collaboration, mitigates conflict, and boosts overall organizational performance.

Conversely, the absence of trust can lead to defensive behaviors and hidden agendas, undermining any collaborative effort.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, in their report "Trust and the Bottom Line" (2018), revealed that trust plays a critical role in a company's financial performance and its ability to rebound from crises. Trust is undeniably a critical asset in the corporate world.

The most trusted B2B brands

We’re all familiar with those surveys of the most valuable brands. The most well-known is perhaps the one by Kantar.

Apple retains its crown as the number one most valuable global brand in Kantar BrandZ’s annual ranking with a brand valuation of $880bn.

This ranking, while it takes into consideration consumer brand opinion, is heavily weighted to the financial value of the brand and it’s percentage contribution to overall company performance.

There will undoubtedly be a lot of crossover between the most valuable brands and the most trusted brands.

Let’s take a look at the ‘Most Trusted B2B Brands’ survey conducted by sagefrog.

The table below shows the scores of a host of well known B2b brands that were found to be ‘trusted B2B brands’.

The findings from sagefrog highlights four keys areas where these B2B brands excel:

1 Focus on customer needs by gathering feedback, and position your brand to solve those problems in ideal ways

2 Incorporate more positive and productive cultures that generate trust among prospective employees and customers

3 Demonstrate adaptability while remaining true to your core values whenever given the opportunity

4 Be open and honest with customers about all account situations, statuses, and details they can use to understand your company’s actions better.

The most trusted B2B brands of 2022

How trust manifests itself in B2B marketing

In B2B marketing, trust holds the power to shape decisions and steer the direction of long-term partnerships.

Key to this is understanding who buyers trust - and why.

In Forrester’s recently published ‘B2B Brand And Communications Survey’, they asked respondents which source of information buyers trust the most.

The survey’s results were fascinating albeit not necessarily surprising.

Respondents trusted those they felt close to - be it physically, psychologically, or in working in similar environments.

The trusted sources included:

1. Colleagues and peers

Over 90% of respondents said that buyers completely or somewhat trusted peers in their industry. A further 85% said they trusted the customers of vendors in their industry.

2. Independent voices

Sources of information that are seen as being objective tend to command more trust. 80%+ said that buyers trust industry analysts and about two-thirds think buyers trust business consultants. And Sales professionals I hear you say? Where did they appear on this ‘trust spectrum’?

Salespeople from vendors were the least trusted group tracked by Forrester with only 29% of respondents saying they were trusted sources of information.

And what does this mean for B2B Marketing (and Sales)?

If building buyer trust is your goal, then it makes sense to to build strong relationships with the ‘trusted voices’ that buyers look to for information rather than trying to engage directly.

What makes life more complicated is that buyers tend to trust their current vendors - meaning that replacing or displacing them is doubly difficult as you are not trusted.

So you can see it all comes back to the Trust Worthiness equation but with the added elements of authority and objectivity. In fact, there are elements of the Sensemaking process we talked about in an earlier edition of DashDot that should be included in this thinking.

The role of trust in ABM

A well-designed ABM strategy will see you address the specific challenges and pains that key stakeholders in the target account are experiencing. It will talk to their specific agenda. This can help to generate trust in you as an authority and your solution as a possible option.

Jack Rawlings | Head of ABM | strategicabm

Account-based Marketing is not an abstract marketing strategy. It is very specific. It is very focused. It is very account centric. It is very... customer centric.

To do ABM well demands a high level of personalization and engagement, where trust plays a pivotal role.

Trust, in an ABM context, is about showing the account- the key people in that account- that you understand their business, can provide personalzed solutions to their problems, and are willing to invest in a long-term relationship for mutual growth.

Earning trust in ABM

Guess what...the buyer has changed and there’s no going back.

Surveys reveal that up to 80% of the buying journey is now done without Sales.

Sales (and Marketing) therefore need to establish a credible reason to be part of the buyer conversation, part of the buyer journey, and ultimately, part of the buyer solution.

Think about what is happening today.

Artificial Intelligence, Meta, Cloud, Machine Learning, all types of analytics, etc. are just some of the new ways B2B businesses are providing to be more efficient, effective, profitable, competitive, and, ultimately, closer to their customers.

But these technologies are not easy to understand. And they are certainly not easy to buy (let’s not talk about integration, etc.).

Buyers need help and this is where Account-based Marketing can play its trump card. (no reference to a former US President here but rather it’s a card game term - google it!)

Let’s take a look at how ABM can build trust with these buyers:

1. Lead with education

As we said above buyers need help. They need help with these advances. They need help with these technologies. They need help with information overload. They need help to know what good looks like and how to ensure a successful product selection and deployment.

This is where your educational content comes in. Content that helps your buyers make sense of their industry, key trends, best practices, etc. Content that guides them through their purchasing process. Educational content is instrumental in building credibility and trust with customers and your prospects.

Trust is like the air we breathe – when it’s present, nobody really notices; when it’s absent, everybody notices.

Warren Buffett

2. Be transparent

Being upfront about your offerings, their costs, potential limitations, and how you operate builds trust.

Karen Strugnell explains
“It's about having a collaborative approach with the client and being open and honest when there are issues.”

3. Be consistent

Regular, relevant, and personalized communication nurtures relationships with your key accounts. It signals your commitment to understanding and addressing their needs.

4. Demonstrate expertise

You’ll recall earlier how your buyers trust their peers, objective thought leaders, etc? Well here is an opportunity to leverage this fact and position yourself as the facilitator.

Host webinars, draft white papers, share customer case studies. These are all ways of demonstrating your expertise and the value you have provided to similar clients.

5. Be personal

Show your commitment by creating messaging, experiences, and solutions personalized to your target account's unique challenges and agenda. Investing in these actions show that you are treating this one account as a ‘market of one’.

6. Offer high value exchange opportunities

How often have you gone to a vendor website and seen the main “Calls-to-action’ as ‘Book a demo’ or ‘Contact us’ or ‘Contact Sales’, etc.

These are ‘bottom of the funnel’ triggers - where less than 5% of your market is.

The value proposition you create as part of your Account-based Marketing strategy will highlight what the value exchange opportunities are.

We find that leading with a much more educational value exchange earlier on in the buyer journey creates much more trust with the buyer.

We call this the Demand Trust ratio. In the graphic on the following page you can see that when you have low brand awareness and low levels of trust with the buyer leading with a demo request, etc. will not create trust and in fact will not be selected by the buyer.

What is far more effective is to lead with an educational workshop where the subject matter discussed relates to the specific challenges of the buyer - not about your product or solution.

Demand:Trust ratio

Here at the Agency, our ‘Trust proposition’ is the ABM Lunch & Learn workshop.

This free educational workshop provides an opportunity for B2B Marketers to share their Go-to-market strategy, review best practices, and hear how other B2B tech brands are succeeding with Account-based Marketing.

It’s a real opportunity to learn, share, and discuss where we don’t pitch, we don’t sell.

Trust takes time

To quote Karen Strugnell: “You can't build a marketing plan to create trust! It's something that happens – and it happens because you have certain behaviors, shared values, etc.”

It requires deliberate, consistent effort to build and maintain over a long period of time.

Trust paves the way for more profound, more successful business relationships and is the linchpin of any successful ABM strategy.

“Trust after all is like love”. Simon Sinek famously said...”Both parties have to feel it before it really exists.”

Trust truly is the one thing that changes everything.