L'ingrediente mancante nel marketing

E' inutile che ci giriamo intorno, parliamo di blog, di nuove forme di advertising, di esperienza sul punto vendita, di nuovi touchpoint, di marketing di prossimità e di chissà cos'altro e continuiamo a trascurare l'elemento più importante.

Periodicamente ritorna puntuale come l'influenza di mezza stagione, la mancanza dell'ingrediente chiave, quello di cui si parla spesso nei libri, ma di cui alla fine ci si preoccupa troppo poco in fase di implementazione.

E' il trust, ovvero la fiducia. Ritorno sull'argomento, di cui continuo ad occuparmi, anche se in verità ho scritto poco ultimamente.

Scrive Sally Bib: Trust is a vital ingredient of any personal or business relationship. So why is it that companies rarely address it as an issue or actively try to build it?

Perchè accade così di rado che durante la fase di trasferimento del brief in agenzia, si pone così poco l'accento sulla componente più importante in un piano di comunicazione?

Lo avete visto lo spot? Si lo abbiamo visto.
Ve lo ricordate? Si ce lo ricordiamo.
Vi ha colpito? Si ci ha colpito moltissimo
Comprerete il prodotto? Noi ti diciamo di si, ma alla fine non lo compreremo, perchè di quest'azienda non ci fidiamo per come si comporta.

Costruire la fiducia è maledettamente difficile perchè richiede sforzi energia e onesta. Come riassume Sally Bib:

It takes investment. Trust goes to the heart of our relationships with others. We know whom we do and do not trust. If we became consciously aware of it, we would realise that when we first meet people we are checking out whether we can trust them. It can take a great deal of time and many actions to create trust, but a short time and only one action to lose it.

It is fragile. Trust is easier to destroy than create. This could partly be explained by the fact that events and actions that destroy trust are more noticeable and obvious than those needed to establish trust. Negative, trust-destroying stories are perhaps more common in the media and around office water-coolers than positive stories of trust being created.

The slate is never wiped clean. We tend to let our current experiences be tainted by what has happened in the past. If, over time, we have had a series of bosses who we trust, we are predisposed to assume that we can trust the next one. If the opposite is true, we are tempted to transfer our negative experience onto a new boss who might in fact be extremely trustworthy.

It is not simple. Advances in science and technology far outstrip the advances in the field of human relations. Left-brain logic still dominates. Trust is a complex human issue that can be difficult to understand and develop. In the absence of simple, easy answers, we stick to issues that we can more easily understand.

Per creare fiducia, ci vuole un impegno ed uno sforzo, non si tratta solo di mantenere le promesse fatte ma ci vuole molto di più:

Authentic communication. People need to feel that they are being told the truth, even if they do not like what they hear; it is crucial to have transparency at all levels up and down the organisation. Telling the truth, admitting mistakes and giving honest feedback are all important.

Competence. The organisation needs people who are skilled and competent at what they do. This gives people faith in and respect for each other's abilities.

Supporting processes. If the processes in an organisation are based on the assumption that people cannot be trusted (for example checking time sheets and monitoring emails), trust will be undermined.

Boundaries. Controlling people destroys trust, but clearly within organisations there has to be an agreement about what people will achieve and how they will do it. A framework of agreed goals allows people freedom within that boundary.

Contact. Personal contact is important because people need to get to know and understand each other to build and maintain trust.

L'articolo di Sally è disponibile integralmente qui. Non va letto frettolosamente. E' come imparare una nuova lingua, bisogna fare molta pratica.

Per avere fiducia, la prima cosa è iniziare a darla. Ai propri dipendenti e ai propri clienti, tanto per incominciare.