Why Consumers Don’t Trust Companies (And What To Do About It)

At Understand & Serve we believe the companies that win are those who understand their customers best – their needs, views and life-context – and then serve them in the best way they possibly can – with great products, a clear mission, and personal, responsive service.

Sadly I think most consumers would say they could only name a few companies that behave this way. In too many cases there’s still an obvious disconnect between on one hand what the CEO and the latest company ad campaign says, and on the other what we read in the newspaper, hear from politicians or share with millions of other consumers through social media.

In other words while a company might spend millions trying to persuade us they’re one thing, we often have the evidence right in front of our face that they’re actually something completely different. The result? We don’t trust what they say. And if we have no trust, we won’t buy from them.

Sometimes of course every company in a particular product sector is behaving more or less the same way so we may have no choice but to hold our noses and do business with them anyway (I’m sure we can all think of a few usual suspects.

This isn’t to say companies behave worse today than they did in the past. Entirely the opposite in fact. Companies have clearly been thinking deeply about their corporate image in recent years, working hard to deliver better quality products faster and cheaper to market and at the same time ensure more equitable working practices for their employees and those of their suppliers.

But for a number of reasons it doesn’t seem to be enough. Consumer confidence in corporate America is at a low. More people now look to government to ‘reign in the market’, ‘curb the excesses’ of ‘fat-cat’ bosses, regulate and legislate more in order to ‘protect consumers’. Today there’s a deep seated anti-business attitude in our culture that’s infecting the media (old and new), politicians and (therefore) consumers. Capitalism is bad. Companies are bad. We need to be protected.

What on earth is business to do in the teeth of this seeming perfect storm? Clearly there’s no magic bullet. But equally not every company is affected as badly as others. In many instances companies have glowing reputations,fabulously high customer ratings and reviews, and are returning increased profit to their shareholders. What do these companies have in common? If we can figure that out, perhaps there’s hope not just for individual businesses, but for corporate America as a whole.

Saving capitalism – one C-suite at a time

I believe successful businesses of every kind have a number of things in common that separate them from the pack.

1: They stand for something bigger than themselves

2: The customer is more important than the shareholder

3: Success is built over the long-term, not quarter to quarter

4: Service isn’t everything, it’s the only thing

5: They’re great (non-fiction) storytellers

Successful companies today are the ones that are clearly mission-driven. They have passionate CEOs who are as successful at galvanizing their own workforce as they are at creating diehard customer advocates.

They’ve also realized that their customers’ needs and interests are absolutely paramount. Period. They ensure that everything they do ladders up to a clearly expressed mission and amazing customer service.

They think in terms of building a long-term relationship with consumers based on earned credibility and trust. Nothing must get in the way of that. Ultimately, shareholder interests will be best served by maintaining and increasing a passionate, trusting customer base.

And they have become adept at using the very tools that have exposed the bad behavior of their competitors to tell their own story in a powerful, personal way to all the stakeholders that matter – customers, advocates, the media, Wall Street, shareholders.

What I’m describing as a prescription for success obviously can’t be put into practice overnight. But really that’s the point. Being a customer-centric business is hard. It requires leadership and a sense of mission that pervades the entire organization. It also can’t be faked – and ultimately I believe it’s that point that will save corporate America. In this new world, authenticity is everything. That’s the message consumers are sending to corporate America. Who’s listening?