Why do people choose the brands they do? The Know, Like, Trust principle is ingrained in every aspect of life where people are concerned. It is an especially important concept to understand when in a position of building relationships, from marketing your business to internal business affairs.
What is the Know, Like Trust principle? The Know Like Trust principle is the journey people make before they are willing to put confidence and believe in your business. Trust is important in every aspect of life, especially when building a relationships with both people or businesses. It Ultimately influences where you spend your money.
Business is more personal than people like to admit, and its essential for anyone to do business with people they trust. In this article, we discuss the process of building relationships in more detail…
1. What Is the “Know, Like, Trust” Principle?
Whenever you are dependent on someone else, and promises are, trust is especially important. This includes promises made when conducting business deals or promises made e when purchasing a product or service from a business transaction. We are always skeptical that promises meet our expectations. So it only makes sense, after all you want to make the best decisions and avoid as many risks as possible.
The know, like, trust principle depicts people’s journey from meeting someone or a company for the first time to trusting them. People are naturally cautious, and you should never trust someone you have just met. Trust takes time to develop, and certain criteria must be met before people evaluate your brand.
- First, they must “Know” who you are, which implies they must be aware of your existence, the services you provide, and why you are qualified to provide them.
- Second, they must decide whether or not they “like” what they learn about you. Are you someone they can relate to, and do you appear qualified and capable of reaching their requirements?
- Third, and finally, once they’ve gotten to know and like you, they’ll start to wonder if you appear like an honest, dependable person or firm they can rely on.
You can only hope to secure people as clients and build your relationship once you’ve conquered the “know, like, trust” hurdle. Depending on how they are introduced to you, their circumstances, and how discerning they are, the trip from first meeting you to signing on the dotted line can be a swift one. You must take action to move the process forward, whether you are trying to develop a brand promise or secure a business agreement.
2. Why is Know, Like Trust Important?
Ironically any relationship, including between businesses must deliver Know, Like, Trust to make sales and secure deals. When a person goes to a supermarket to buy a product they will be faced with many similar items. You mostly always choose the product you “Know”.
But, if your presented with two items you know, then just having heard about it is not enough. The one you “Like” will make the cut. Generally, after being able to recall a brand and be familiar with a product as it aligns to your own core values, or been spoken highly of, is enough to like it.
The message this brand has used allows you to like it. At this point, the brand has promised you something. It is only after you have purchased and evaluate first hand whether or not they have have met their promise, will you then begin to trust it. In a saturated market and looking for return business is vital.
3. Know
The “Know” is the first step is to assist people to understand who you are and what your company stands for. More specifically in terms of marketing the “Know” it brand awareness. At this point it the objective is getting people to know exist. If you see the marketing journey as a funnel, “know” is the broadest point, located at the bottom of the pyramid.
People will get to know you by simply sharing engaging biographies of yourself and your team, complete with pertinent background information. People are more likely to pay attention, connect with you, and want to learn more about you if they see that you have something in common with them. People are visual, images and a smile should not be underestimated. Professional, friendly photographs may go a long way in building a connection.
You must be intentional and explicit about who your firm serves and who it does not in all of your communications. Every presentation you give, every piece of marketing collateral you create, and every piece of content you post should either entice or repel your ideal client.
You’ll also need to spell out exactly what services you offer, what benefits they can expect from working with you, how you deal with clients, how you structure your pricing, and other important details. People are inquisitive and sceptical, therefore the more specific information you can provide them with up front, the better. Due to a lack of clarity, assumptions and objections may arise, which may work against you. It’s more likely that giving them the knowledge they need to make a decision will work in your advantage. When you assist potential clients learn more about you, they may choose whether to learn more or move on without wasting time.
Being generous with your knowledge and helpful information is one of the finest methods for others to get to know you more quickly and increase your credibility.
4. Like
Someone knowing you does not imply that they like you. Branding is especially important during the “Like” phase. It makes a massive difference how you portray yourself, and demonstrate your experience and professionalism when customers are first learning about your business. This happen early on in the customer journey. At this stage marketers need to make sure they provide enough of the right information so they can thurrerly understand you better meets their needs than the competition.
- Story telling – Sharing tales is a fantastic way to increase your likability. Stories are engaging, when stories are relatable and motivating. People connect with them, so consider sharing stories whenever possible.
- Share Background information – Clients will like to hear or read about your passions as the challenges you’ve faced in your life or work and how you overcame them.
- Results – Sharing your results is a good way to gain credibility. By telling stories about your or your client’s experiences and their positive outcomes working with you will make your more considerable as a business.
- First impressions – first impressions are very important for getting someone to like you.
- Be Attentive to details – pay attention to the details and be attentive, so make sure you return phone calls, emails, and even social media comments promptly. Because potential clients are likely to forget about you shortly after seeing you or visiting your website, make sure you have a plan in place to keep in touch. Otherwise it could come across as rude and people wont like you.
- Connect on a personal level – The social component of business is enjoyable and allows for a variety of non-business interactions a connect on a personal level without trying to push sales
Being genuine, friendly, honest and helpful but betray your self professionally an is one of the most efficient strategies to increase people’s liking for you. People connect with genuine people. Make an attempt to communicate in a positive, happy, and hopeful manner while remaining transparent and truthful. Never release any marketing collateral that is questionable, ensuring that you always paying attention to how your message is reflected with potential customers.
5. Trust
Some people are easier to persuade than others. But, generally people are wary, particularly when it comes to money. It’s up to you to do everything you can at this point to exhibit your dependability, demonstrate your capability, and overall establish your credibility.
It may seem obvious but there are many things you wan to aim for to build trust. Below we explore these in more detail…
- Credibility – every marketer wants to try and position themselves as credible as credibility is the highest form of trust.
- Reliability – One of the most successful strategies to create trust in marketing is to continually turning up. Simply being there with helpful information and tools, addressing problems, giving your views, and offering your perspective on a regular basis may have a significant influence. It allows you to demonstrate that you are well-informed, and consistency fosters trust.
- Testimonials – You can include client testimonials, articles you’ve authored or where you’ve been cited, media clips, speaking engagements, community service examples, and case studies, all of which will help to promote your firm. People trust you because other people trust you, and this signals to them that they may trust you as well.
- Frequent communication – email is one of the most effective tools for establishing trust. You’ll want to follow up with regular email communication. Whether they take you up on this offer or not, be sure to stay in consistent communication with them through a regular monthly or quarterly newsletter. This will keep you top of mind for when they are ready
By following the above is a great way to get people warmed and your business will be a considered. Positive feedback about your products and services spreads quickly, while negative feedback spreads even more quickly. Word-of-mouth recommendations are critical to a companies success.
Conclusion
Every commercial relationship is built on the foundation of “know, like, and trust”. You won’t be able to sell anything if you don’t have it. You’ll be well on your way to creating profitable and rewarding partnerships that will help you grow your company with it. Creating a nurturing series that creates a “know, like, trust” aspect can appear to be a daunting endeavor to take on on your own at times.
