In a recent blog post, Seth Godin wrote, “The digital asset that matters is trust. Awareness first, then interaction, and maybe a habit, but all three mean nothing if they don’t lead to permission and trust. The privilege of connection.” Trust in the B2B buying journey has never been more important. A recent Demand Gen Report survey found that while 79 percent of respondents rated their recent buying experiences as positive, 41 percent waited longer to initiate contact with vendors and 34 percent of B2B buyers indicated that more people from their companies were involved in the purchasing process.
With B2B buyers waiting longer to make purchases and involving more people in the buying process, establishing and maintaining trust is becoming increasingly difficult. Why? Because prospects are engaging with and consuming your company’s message in more ways than ever before. In fact, the Demand Gen Report survey also stated that 68 percent of buyers indicated the number of sources they used to research and evaluate purchases increased over the past year. In the end, your ability to deliver a clear, consistent message throughout the buying process is the foundation of trust.
From sales calls, to boardroom meetings, social media posts, content marketing and advertising—you must weave a clear, consistent message throughout the buyer journey. This won’t happen if your employees and partners are not drawing consistent messaging from a strategic Corporate Messaging Platform. And that’s just the starting point. You also need to infuse consistent corporate messaging into your content, sales enablement tools, and perhaps most importantly, your culture, so employees can bring your company’s story to life in daily prospect and customer conversations. This requires structured training, education and communication programs that change the way your employees infuse clear, consistent corporate messaging into every connection they make.
Trust—it’s hard to earn, easy to lose and in today’s B2B buyer journey, it all starts with your ability to deliver a clear, compelling and consistent message inside and outside of your organization.
