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When it comes to prospecting, there is nothing – I repeat, nothing – more important than building trust. The act of turning over hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of hard-earned dollars to another person for ongoing management is truly an act of faith.
It’s therefore important that you spend a moment intentionally planning for how you’ll build trust with prospective clients. Peers like my friend Shauna Mace will tell you how to do this in a sales environment far better than I can.
But when it comes to marketing, here are the rules that will help.
Let’s define trust
Before we can plan to build trust, we need to understand trust itself. Social psychology researchers talk about two different types of trust – cognitive and affective trust. Cognitive trust is rational – it’s about analyzing a person or situation and deciding you can trust them. Affective trust is emotional – it’s about feelings that arise from interactions that create a sense of trust.
Trust is about the head and the heart. And interestingly, certain cultures and types of people privilege cognitive trust over emotional trust, or vice versa – what matters to one person may not matter as much to another.
Trust is best built in a personal, one-on-one conversation. But research has shown that buyers do more than half of their research online before ever getting in touch. Thus, trust needs to be built just as much through marketing as it does through introductory meetings.
Using marketing to build trust
You will have many different people land on your website, watch a video, or read a piece of collateral. Some will be looking for facts and figures, others will be looking for a sense of comfort and belonging. The goal is for your marketing efforts to provide avenues to achieving both cognitive and emotional trust so that you can build affective trust with whomever might be evaluating you.
Ways to build cognitive trust
How do you build cognitive trust? The answer is simple: Give them the facts. Here are some ways to do it:
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News clips: Have you gotten yourself into the press? Show people you have, whether it’s through the logos of publications that have featured you or press clippings on your website or social media. One quote in the New York Times – or even in your local paper – sends the message that you are credible.
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Awards: Awards are shorthand for legitimacy. Prominently feature recognitions that you’ve received throughout your career – it’s an instant communicator that you can be trusted.
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Numbers: Don’t overwhelm prospects with numbers. But if you can give them a sense of your scale – for instance, your total AUM or the number of clients you serve – it shows that others trust you. Find ways to prominently feature these factoids on your website and collateral.
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Write (a book): This would fall into the “not turnkey” set of tactics, but just the act of writing a book demonstrates to prospective clients that you’re an authority. Admittedly, not many of us have the time to write a book, so a quicker path here can be to write some articles for (great!) publications like Advisor Perspectives and feature them prominently on social media and via email.
Ways to build affective trust
Affective (emotional) trust is harder to build in marketing. After all, you don’t have the opportunity to build trust through a meaningful, empathetic conversation. But there are still things you can do – the trick here is to generate a feeling of authenticity, relatability, compassion and professionalism.
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Authentic video: Sure, you can’t have a two-way conversation with clients when you’re marketing, but you can show your personality online. Authentic videos featured on your website and social media with ideas and anecdotes can help prospective clients to connect with you emotionally, even when you’re not sitting in a room together.
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Show your personal side: You’re not just a professional. You’re someone clients can relate to. Talk about your family, your passions, and your quirks on social media and in your bio. This can make clients feel like you’re another human, just like them, who they can trust.
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Charitable efforts: Want to show that you’re a caring person who can be trusted? Show what you put your heart into. Featuring what you do for charity can be a meaningful way to send an emotional “smoke signal” to prospects that you’re a caring individual who will care for them in turn.
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Your brand: Clients can’t analyze the look and feel of your branding and marketing materials. But a clean, professional, and organized set of standards can send an implicit message that you’re a credible firm to be trusted. On the flip side, if all your marketing materials are a mess, it works counter to your objective, and can make clients wonder if you are legitimate.
Read through Ron Carson’s bio – what do you see? An endless number of facts and figures, mentions of awards, highlights of news features, a reference to his book, a description of his charitable work, and a quick snippet on his family and interests. Sure, it’s a long bio, but Ron is playing all his cards right when it comes to building both cognitive and affective trust.
You need to do the same.
Phil Edelstein is the founder of Substance Strategy & Creative, a branding firm built for the financial services sector. In addition to a multi-year tenure as head of advertising, public relations and internal communications for Hartford Funds, Phil has brought his expertise to bear for financial firms like SEI, DLL, Maples Group, PowerPay, Beneficial Bank, Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, Sun National Bank and a number of other wealth management and fintech brands.
Read more articles by Phil Edelstein
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
