Longevity builds trust

The people we trust most are, by and large, the people we have dealt with the longest. We trust the same doctor, dentist, mechanic, and hair stylist that we've gone to for years. They've stood the test of time. I'm sure many of your customers have been coming back to you for years. But what about the ones that haven't been back? How can you build longevity if they haven't had an accident or reason to come back?

With interest rates the lowest in years, I, like many others, have refinanced my house. My mail box has been clogged with refinance offers from dozens of banks and lenders, but when the time came to refinance, I called the broker that I used several years ago. Why? He always kept in touch. He sent a monthly newsletter with suggestions on pest control, heating and air conditioning, dry rot and other issues of interest to a home owner. He sent greeting cards every holiday and also on my birthday and my wife's birthday. He got an exceptional rate for me last time, and I expected the same from him again. He lived up to my expectations and once again earned my trust.

Would it be too expensive or time-consuming to do this for your prior customers? Would the time and money be better spent pursuing another DRP or dealership? There may have been a time when you could afford to choose, but those days are gone. Today you have to do it all if you hope to compete.

Consistency builds trust

So what about getting the big sources of referrals? The insurance companies? Fleet companies? Dealerships? Local commercial accounts? How can you build trust with someone you've never done business with before?

The law of consistency applies. If you establish a pattern of behavior and are consistent in your actions for a very long time, people will come to expect you to behave that way every time. If you always tip a waitress 20%, she will give you the extra service, confident that you will be generous once again. If your stock broker sends you tickets to the ball game every year, you come to expect that appreciation for giving him your business.

Can you create an expectation of trustworthy behavior by consistently soliciting business in the same way, month after month, year after year? I have watched it work many times. Many agents send a free monthly information letter along with a solicitation for business. They know that eventually a certain percentage of the recipients of those letters will come to see them. If the information is valuable, or at least useful, people have a natural tendency to want to reciprocate. It's a numbers game. Some will come in and some will buy.

If you begin a regular pattern of communication with DRP coordinators, dealership principals, and fleet managers, and you consistently communicate every month or two, your consistency will communicate. By extension, they will come to believe yours is a trustworthy, consistent business to deal with.

Size inspires trust

There's a reason more people bank with big banks, shop at big stores and choose to deal with large, established companies. They believe the sheer size of the company will guarantee a degree of trustworthiness. But they are often wrong. Enron, Worldcom and other companies that were found guilty of defrauding investors violated their trust and proved that big is not necessarily better.

Nevertheless there is a way for you to use size to build trust and more business as well. Over the years you have probably accumulated several thousand satisfied customers, but who knows it? If someone comes into your shop, can they see a list of satisfied customer statements? Do you have a series of CSI graphs to show how satisfied a large percentage of your customers have been over the past few years? Do you have written endorsements by local influential people you've done work for?

This evidence of your trustworthy work will impress not only new prospective customers, but also the insurance and commercial executives you are soliciting for ongoing referral business.

Trust is a fragile thing, easily lost and nearly impossible to regain. But once established, it can make your business a thriving enterprise far into the future.

Tom Franklin has been a sales and marketing representative and consultant for forty years and is the author of the books, "Business Battlefield Marketing for Body Shops," "Tom Franklin's Top 40 Marketing Tactics for Body Shops," and "Strategies for Greater Body Shop Growth." His marketing company now provides marketing services for body shops and other businesses. He can be reached at (323) 871-6862, by fax at (323) 465-2228, or by E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it