Many agencies are built on the backs of referrals; however, trust can be quickly eroded, leading to ongoing problems maintaining growth and building a healthy, self-sustaining business.
While most agencies will say that trust is important, we often encounter things that may inherently lead to a lack of trust, even if they feel like they could be good for business.
For example, we’ll hear of other agencies:
- Locking clients into long contracts with no out clauses.
- Not providing clients with access to their own ad accounts.
- Taking on work they don’t have expertise in, or developing dashboards that leave out critical elements like spend or cost per order/lead.
These may make your agency feel secure in the short term but won’t lead to a trusting relationship.
This article will explain why maintaining client trust is critical to building a strong agency and culture.
How trust is built
There’s a trust equation that includes three important components leading to trustworthiness:
- Credibility: Do you have the knowledge or capability to execute or provide relevant information.
- “I can trust what he tells me about SEO, he has deep experience in this area.”
- Reliability: Do you do things when you say you will?
- “If he says I’ll have this report by Friday, I can trust that he will have it to me that day.”
- Intimacy: Do clients feel confident that you can be trusted?
- “I can trust them with this project. They are always professional and maintain confidence in sensitive situations.”
Combined, these items represent trust. Any one of them can destroy or diminish trust.
For example, if you have a lot of knowledge about a subject but never deliver projects on time, your clients (and colleagues!) may feel you can’t be trusted.
