Trust - sayings to think about the application in corporate communication
There are endless sayings on the subject of trust. I would like to pick out a few of these sayings and think about how they can be applied in corporate communications.
"It is equally wrong to trust All or None." Seneca
"Be courteous to all, but friendly with a few; and let those few prove themselves before you put your trust in them." George Washington
"He who trusts others too little is afraid in every corner; he who relies too much on others awakens with terror." Wilhelm Busch
"Trust is good, control is better." Lenin
"Better to lose money than trust." Robert Bosch
As we can see, highly diverse personalities have expressed themselves on the subject of trust. They are listed here in roughly the order in which they probably arose.
"It is equally wrong to trust All or None." Seneca
The Roman philosopher and writer, who lived around the beginning of our era, is addressing a situation here that we are confronted with again and again on the Internet. Unlike in the past, today we have access to almost every provider. It is obvious that we cannot and do not want to trust everyone. Most of them certainly can, but a few black sheep cannot be ruled out.
And since in most cases we do not yet have personal contact with the companies, we rely on the information provided by corporate communications via the website. And as SEO Agency we are dependent on which links Google presents to us. The fact that users are extremely selective here is shown by the frequently very short time they spend on websites. So it's not just about communicating trust. It also has to succeed very quickly. Only then do we as a company have a chance of being among those who are trusted and then contacted.
"Be courteous to all, but friendly with a few; and let those few prove themselves before you put your trust in them." George Washington
George Washington was the first President of the United States of America from 1789. With the word "prove," he addresses the paramount importance of results in communicating trust. Communicating what you have already achieved as a company is the crucial prerequisite for new customers to trust you.
So show your results and describe how you take responsibility for your performance. Customer statements and descriptions of cases are the best tools here. And when the customer then contacts you, he should of course encounter a customer-oriented attitude in combination with a friendly employee.
"He who trusts others too little is afraid in every corner; he who relies too much on others awakens with terror." Wilhelm Busch
The creator of Max und Moritz was born in 1832. Here, he points to the future and outlines that too much confidence can lead to "waking up with fright". To counter this, a positive expectation of the future and consistency are necessary. And to communicate these as well.
If contact persons in the company are constantly changing, the range of services is always different or the appearance is regularly new, this creates mistrust. And rightly so, because the provider may no longer offer the service I want from him tomorrow. Showing that you as a company have a clear focus despite all your innovativeness and stick to it can reduce these fears.
"Trust is good, control is better." Lenin
The communist and founder of the Soviet Union coined what is probably the most famous saying about trust. What can he teach us for corporate communications?
I think it is important here to see that decisions in companies are very often made in a longer process and with several employees involved. The head of department checks the pre-selection of suppliers from his employees. He checks whether the selected companies are suitable from his point of view. In a later step, the purchasing department joins in and sets its own criteria.
Corporate communications should have all the important information available on the website for these control bodies. Who is actually behind the company? What is the composition of the management? Do the values match the values of the customers? What specific experience is available? etc.
"Better to lose money than trust." Robert Bosch
The ingenious engineer and founder of Robert Bosch GmbH lived from 1861 to 1942. With this saying, he once again demonstrates the paramount importance of the value of trust for companies. If a Swabian company would rather lose money than trust, that says something. And we can be sure that Robert Bosch did not like losing money. But it was clear to him that loss of trust costs much more in the medium and long term than short-term expenditures.
So show what you do to justify trust. Be transparent. And think carefully about where it's worth investing to ensure optimal communication of your trustworthiness.
Conclusion: It is worth thinking about sayings to trust
Five quotes on trust from different times and from very different personalities. They all show the overriding importance of trust, especially in corporate communications.
If you want to make sure that you're on the right track with the Content Creation We will be happy to advise you on how to communicate the optimum level of trustworthiness.
