By J. N. HALM
I saw the gentleman immediately as he walked into the office. However, I lost track of him because I was busy with piles of work.
It was, therefore, a surprise to me when I lifted my head almost half an hour later to find him still seated in the waiting area.
As the one in charge of customer service in that office, I instinctively rushed over to where he was seated to find out why he had not been served. I was in for a pleasant surprise.
A couple of my colleagues had apparently approached the customer earlier but he insisted on being served by only one particular person—and that individual was out on a break. I found it quite interesting.
After satisfying my curiosity that he was not related to the employee in question and there was nothing untoward going on between them, I had to leave the customer. This was a customer who trusted only one person within an entire branch to serve his needs. As much as it felt like a slap in the face of the organisation, I believed it was more of human nature on display.
The truth is that, if there is one thing I can confidently vouch for in the business world, it has to be the undeniable power of trust. In fact, without trust, there is no business at all. Business is all about relationships and we know trust is the foundation on which relationships are built.
This is played out regularly at our local market. There is a reason why we often return to the same tomato seller. We do so not just because of the quality of her produce, but because of the relationship we have built with her over time. Businesses must cultivate trust in their relationships – but in a much more complex and deliberate way.
A fascinating study a couple of years ago revealed something that many of us might have suspected but could not quite prove. When it comes to business services, people trust people more than they trust organisations. Titled, “Creating Trust and Commitment in B2B Services”, the study was published in the August 2021 edition of Industrial Marketing Management journal.
The researchers studied this phenomenon extensively, gathering data from an impressive 1,692 participants. Their findings confirm what many successful business people have known intuitively—trust is the currency of business relationships.
The business world, especially in the business-to-business (B2B) service sector, is becoming increasingly complex. Think about it. When a company wants to hire an advertising agency or a management consulting firm, they are not buying something tangible like a new printer or office furniture. They are buying promises, expertise, and potential results. It is like buying air. You cannot see it, but you need to trust that it is clean and healthy.
Trust, however, operates on two distinct levels: trust in the organisation and trust in the individual salesperson. Let us break this down with a scenario we are all familiar with. Think about your favourite bank. You might trust the institution because it has a solid reputation and provides quality service.
However, if you are like most people, your strongest connection to that bank is probably through your relationship manager—that one person who understands your needs, returns your calls, and goes the extra mile to help you solve problems.
The study found that while both types of trust are important, trust in the salesperson has a far greater impact on business commitment than trust in the organisation. This reminds me of how many market women in Ghana still prefer to deal with the regular susu collector rather than using mobile money, despite the latter being backed by large telecommunications companies.
The local market man or woman wants to deal with a person—a human being. He or she wants to be sure that if something were to go wrong, there is a person who can be held responsible. Indeed, the personal touch matters.
But what builds these different types of trust? The researchers identified several key factors:
For organisational trust, two main drivers emerged: reputation and service quality. This makes perfect sense. Companies need to deliver consistently good service and maintain a positive reputation in the marketplace. Reputations are built on consistency. This is why businesses must be set up with clearly stated standards of performance.
This is especially important for multi-branched businesses. The way things are done in one branch in terms of customer experience should not be markedly different from what happens in the other branches. Inconsistent performance confuses customers, leading to increased customer attrition.
For personal trust, the key factors were social skills and a low-pressure selling approach. The most trusted salespeople are those who can build genuine relationships and focus on understanding customer needs rather than pushing for quick sales. It is similar to how we trust those traders who take the time to engage with us personally rather than those who merely shout prices at passing customers.
The implications of this research for businesses are significant. While companies often invest heavily in building their corporate brand and reputation, this study suggests that equal, if not more, attention should be paid to developing the interpersonal skills of their customer-facing staff.
The question is if you had to choose between two IT service providers for a project. Company A is larger, has a better-known brand, and offers slightly lower prices. Company B is smaller but has a representative who takes the time to understand your specific needs, shares relevant insights and demonstrates genuine interest in your success.
Which of these two would you go for? Despite the price difference, I believe you would choose Company B. The trust you would build through personal interaction would outweigh the organisational advantages of Company A.
This, however, does not mean that businesses should be focusing solely on personal relationships while neglecting organisational trust. The aforementioned study shows that both elements work together to create strong business relationships.
For business leaders, this research provides several practical takeaways:
- Invest in developing the social skills of your customer-facing staff. Technical expertise is important, but interpersonal skills might be even more crucial.
- Train your sales team to adopt a consultative approach rather than a hard-selling stance. The study clearly shows that customers trust salespeople who prioritise understanding needs over closing deals.
- Continue building your organisational reputation and maintaining service quality, but understand that these are necessary but not sufficient conditions for building strong business relationships.
- Remember that trust leads to commitment. When customers trust both your organisation and your people, they are more likely to maintain long-term relationships with your business.
Looking ahead, this research opens up interesting questions about the future of B2B relationships in an increasingly digital world. As artificial intelligence and automation become more prevalent, businesses will need to find new ways to maintain the personal touch that this study shows is so crucial for building trust.
I want to believe this is why many creators of advanced technologies try to make them as anthropomorphic as possible. This might account for why we have chatbots with local Ghanaian names such as Araba and Kukua.
The researchers note that their study is the first to provide such a comprehensive trust model in the B2B service market. However, I believe its findings resonate with what many of us have experienced in our business interactions. People trust people first. They trust organisations second.
There is a tangible reason for this.
People tend to trust individuals more than organisations because human beings are naturally wired for personal connections and face-to-face interactions throughout our evolutionary history.
When we interact with another person, we can read their facial expressions, body language, and emotional cues, which helps us assess their trustworthiness. We can also hold individuals personally accountable for their actions and develop genuine relationships with them over time.
In contrast, organisations are abstract entities with complex decision-making processes, multiple stakeholders, and often opaque motivations driven by profit or other institutional goals. The lack of a single, relatable human face makes it harder to form an emotional connection or feel confident in their authenticity, while corporate scandals and impersonal customer experiences have further eroded institutional trust.
As we navigate the complexities of modern business relationships, let us not forget this fundamental truth. While we must embrace new technologies and organisational systems, the human element remains paramount.
Just as our traditional market system has thrived for generations on personal relationships and trust, successful B2B services will continue to depend on the ability of individuals to build and maintain trusted relationships. After all, business might be about products and services, but trust will always be about people.
