“When we believe someone genuinely cares about our well-being and society as a whole, we are willing to open our hearts and trust them”
The 24th November saw leading executives from around the world gather for this year’s Sales Conference. And as always, there was one big theme. And this year that theme was ‘trust’. But how do we build trust? In the ‘Future State of Trust’ report we identified 6 key dimensions critical to the process – and one of those was…Purpose’
Why ‘Purpose’?
Is your organization trying to have a positive impact on society overall? Does it champion beliefs that matter to people? This is what we mean by ‘purpose’. Purpose means being driven by a higher goal beyond solely profit and genuinely caring for societal and environmental issues. For a long time, a company only had one goal: to make as much money as possible. To be profitable. To reach budget goals. And to fulfil the owner’s interests. But even if money and profitability are prerequisites to running a business, this short-term pursuit of profit is being increasingly questioned, by both customers and personnel.
“More than half (54%) of respondents say that being driven by a purpose beyond profit and genuinely amplifying societal and environmental impact is critical for their business to stay competitive in the future.”
The Future State of Trust 2022 Report
So how do you build it?
Purpose is a critical dimension of trust – one which is growing rapidly as customers’ expectations are rising. It’s a significant factor, not only in attracting customers, but also in attracting the right people to work for your business. In our research, we found five important components of Purpose:
- Being driven by a purpose beyond profit
- Working to protect the environment
- Protecting the well-being of employees and suppliers
- Fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace
- Providing equal pay for equal work
Increasingly, companies need to find a “why” and a clearer overarching purpose of the business that amplifies core values such as environmental and social responsibility, culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, in order to be perceived as trusted. Overall, companies that want to build customer trust must not only focus on being reliable, competent, or demonstrating integrity, they must also find a purpose beyond profit and amplify their societal and environmental impact.
What next?
This year, Mercuri Research presented their annual report based on a global survey of over 1,000 business leaders. It dissected what we actually mean by trust, breaking it down into its component dimensions and pointing out the real world impact of building trust from a business perspective. It offers guidance and suggestions as to how business leaders can find new opportunities, create better, longer lasting client relationships and find new ways to establish long term growth. The report looks at the topic of ‘trust’ as a whole and also examines dimensions such as ‘purpose’ in granular detail.
“More and more of us choose employers, suppliers, products, and services that stand for something. For example, according to a report by Edelman, 86 percent of all consumers expect brands to do more for society”
Henrik Larsson Broman
And with 99% of business leaders surveyed saying that “trust is critical to building long term relationships with clients”, how we get to that point is more important than ever. So, if you’d like to learn how to let your customers trust you – and build meaningful relationships with you – why not download the report or get in touch today?
