With so much written about how to earn trust, is there anything that you are doing that actually accomplishes the opposite? Before singing choruses of “not me, not me” consider the following not-so-obvious trust-busting activities. Do any apply?

1. Failure to meet (or exceed) expectations. While this seems obvious, the real question is whether you indeed know what those expectations actually are. Too often, we make assumptions about what others want… and we don’t always get it right. (Said another way, we always hit the bullseye, but the wrong one.)
   
2. Creepy digital tracking. Yes, all of the data that these app and web trackers collect can drive sales (or at least improve conversion), but at what cost? As your prospects and clients discover your surreptitious spying, it’s not likely they will admire you for it. Hint: Do you even know how many listening devices (eg. trackers) are on your organization’s home page?
   
3. Bad data transparency. This is the question as to what happens to client and prospect data AFTER it is procured, and particularly their location data. Too often, the data is sold to (or married with data from) external partners – data brokers – without the users’ knowledge or consent. Most would be shocked to find out the extent to which their privacy has been breached, and their data has been monetized. Regulators – and thinking of California’s CCPA – have extended the responsibility for privacy to include what your ecosystem partners do with it.
   
4. Social media prospecting. This is the one-two punch of “Can I be your LinkedIn connection”, quickly followed by “I help people do ABC – let’s set up a meeting to explore how I can help you!”. Asking to sell before you have even earned the right to ask is a certain trust-killer.
   
5. Form-letter marketing automation. While there are important reasons to use Marketing automation, too often it is clumsy, poorly timed, poorly written, generic, and rarely adds value. Trust is either built or diminished at every touchpoint; a poor marketing automation sequence of emails has the unfortunate effect of a prolonged trust diminishment.
   
6. Lead magnet sales pestering. Lead magnets such as ebooks, checklists, templates, and the like have exceptional value when done well. They are a huge indicator of trust, as the prospect had to trade their contact information to receive it. But when a sales call comes almost immediately after the download, it makes the often incorrect assumption that the prospect is immediately ready to engage in the sales process. And if they aren’t, then a pestering call has the opposite effect.
   
7. Unsolicited commercial email. It’s hard to believe that some organizations still send unsolicited commercial email. Not only is spam illegal in most jurisdictions, but it is annoying to most prospects. Even worse, when a person receives spam, they often will question the source of their contact information: this throws into question the spammer’s data privacy practices.
   
8. Digital payment snafus. For those clients who choose to pay electronically, mistakes can change an excellent experience to one with a bad taste in their mouth. Errors can range from incorrect recurring charges, credit cards that are charged prematurely, to incorrect account statements, to incorrect collection emails. When these things happen, clients think one of two things, neither of which build trust: you either don’t care, or you are incompetent.
   
9. Data breaches. The epitome of lost trust is when an organization’s systems are hacked. This speaks to the need for security investment, security audits, and a just-in-case action plan.

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