The Power of Trust

There are many points on the Trust Continuum: from active distrust on one end to unlimited confidence on the other. Think of this gradient:

• Active Distrust—someone not only has no confidence in you they actually believe you would harm them if you could
• Mistrust—while not believing you have evil intent there is no belief that you don’t
• Neither Trust nor Mis/Distrust—you simply don’t matter
• Trust—someone believes that your motives, methods, and mechanics are good
• Confidence—someone actually relies on you and doesn’t worry about what you will or won’t do

Now this is not scientific but it’s worth thinking about. Where would each of your customers put you on this scale?