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Trust Quotes #3: Dr. Eric Uslaner on the Nature of Trust

by Charles Green on 03/10/2010 08:57   0 comments , 145 views
Categories: Trust
Tags: books uslaner trust, trust moral foundations

My guess is not many TrustMatters blog readers recognize the name Eric Uslaner. Nevertheless, it would be hard to overstate his importance in the field of trust. Dr. Deborah Nixon, a trust academic herself, says, “Uslaner is arguably the leading academic in the field.”

A professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, Eric is the author of The Moral Foundations of Trust: in my opinion, a superb work. There’s more, much more, but you can get it at his website.

Now, let’s talk trust.

CHG: Dr. Uslaner, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us. I’m delighted to be able to share a taste of your work with TrustMatters readers.

Let’s start with something deceptively simple: what is trust?

EMU: There isn’t one concept of trust. Most of the time we talk about trusting someone to do something specific—do I trust my doctor to take care of my health? I don’t ask if he can be trusted to paint my house.

But there is also a form of trust that doesn’t depend upon evidence or experience—what I call “moralistic trust.” This is the belief that we can trust people whom we don’t know and who may be different from ourselves. This is the sort of trust that ... read more >>

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5 Tips to Successfully Managing Gen Y

by Ryan Stephens on 03/10/2010 03:45   0 comments , 423 views
Categories: Online Community, Marketing, Sales
Tags: managing gen y

I put this video together on the fly for Sydney Owen and the rest of theSX Gen Y team who will be presenting their panel discussion on “Why Gen Y Wants to Work ‘With’ You, Not ‘For’ You,” at South by Southwest on Monday, March 15th.

Since I did the video in one take during my lunch break last Friday afternoon I didn’t really think much about what I was going to say. I really just let it spill off the tongue, and the result when I re-watched the video was that I don’t think Gen Y is all that different from other generations. I genuinely believe most employees would appreciate their managers taking these 5 things into consideration:

If you’re a member of Generation Y do you find that these things apply to you? If you’re an older employee how do these tips stack up in terms of importance for you? Finally, are Gen Y employees really all that different from their elders?

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Tweet This: (Copy & Paste into Twitter):
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If you enjoyed this video please consider subscribing to receive future updates or connecting with me via Twitter or LinkedIn


Link to original post ... read more >>
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Edelman Digital: When Is Your Website A Community?

by David Armano on 03/10/2010 03:30   0 comments , 391 views
Categories: Trust, Online Community, Publishing (Online), Branding, Public Relations
Tags: edelman digital
 Screen shot 2010-03-08 at 3.17.59 PM

One of the pet projects I've taken on since joining Edelman has been taking over the responsibilities of the "website", a project that as many professional services firms can relate to began to head down the path of the "cobblers children". One of the first things I was empowered to do was to hire a resource dedicated to this property—this was probably one of the more innovative moves on the initiatives since the property isn't a content destination nor a product platform. It does however allows us to be content publishers, facilitators and provides us with the flexibility to integrate 3rd party platforms (Foursquare will tell you who has checked into a local office for example).

   Screen shot 2010-03-09 at 10.51.27 AM

Having found the perfect community manager (Suzanne Marlatt), who acts as part curator, editor, blogger, and developer, we began to streamline efforts on the property to move it forward along our vision. Suzanne (below) and I both half jokingly describe this vision as a "Mashable for marketing", but that underscores our determination to not only create but maintain a valuable experience to the users who will subscribe and participate here.

 Screen shot 2010-03-08 at 3.20.06 PM

The site is ... read more >>
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'Sales Process' Is In The Air

by Christian Maurer on 03/09/2010 14:51   0 comments , 199 views
Categories: Trust, Lead Management, Marketing, Customer Experience, Sales Process Measurement, Sales
Tags: sales process
There is a lot written about the sales process these days:
  • Dave Brock has written several pieces on the sales process recently. He now has launched an initiative to get some new thinking on the subject by asking “What's the Future of Buying”.
  • I have seen several contributions by Sharon Drew Morgen, besides her new book 'Dirty little Secrets...', reminding us that we should stop talking about selling and trying to understand to the extent possible how people and organizations buy.
  • Ardath Albee in her book “eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sales” proposes a marketing flavored look on the buyer's journey. A particularity of her model is that it does not imply a linear process as most others do.
  • Axel Schultze wrote in a recent blog post that our sales processes are old and suck.
  • There is a Discussion going on on LinkedIn for several weeks now about what the right steps of a sales process are.
  • Sales 2.0 Network now offers Dealmaker Genius helping to design your sales process in 15 minutes for free.
  • Landslide has a similar ...
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Doubling Sales Productivity — Be Prepared!

by Dave Brock on 03/09/2010 10:07   0 comments , 364 views
Categories: Sales
Tags: sales productivity

Improving sales productivity is the Holy Grail of all sales professionals, executives, Sale 2.0 solution providers and every sales consultant.  We look for all sorts of tools and mechanisms to improve productivity.    Sometimes, it becomes very gimmicky.  Maybe we are making it too complicated.

I was apalled in reading IDC’s Sales Enablement Service’s recent survey of IT Buyers.  In this survey, 54% of IT Buyers said sales people were unprepared for their initial customer meetings.  For those seeking a silver lining, the 2010 survey indicated 54% were unprepared versus 57% for the 2009 survey.  Nothing to be proud of. 

While I don’t have the data, my experience indicates this probably extends far beyond IT Buyers to buyers in all disciplines.  Our own research, not just limited to the initial meeting, indicates that sales people tend to make 2-5 times more calls than necessary to close a deal.  A key finding in this research is they did not prepare or plan adequately for the call.

Why prepare?  Most sales people I meet are very bright, they are nimble and fast, why not continue to shoot from their lips?

I ...

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You Can't Save Your Way Into More Sales

by Jill Konrath on 03/08/2010 18:53   1 comment , 263 views
Categories: Selling in Slump, Marketing, Sales

In response to the tough economic challenges of 2009, most sales organizations ruthlessly slashed all unnecessary expenses from their budgets. Annual sales meetings were cancelled, training was delayed, travel curtailed and hiring postponed.

But what happens after you've squeezed every bit of fat out of the budget?

It's time to focus on growth again. That's the only viable option for companies who want to be around for the long haul.

Instead, I see the opposite happening. Companies are refusing to spend money to upgrade the knowledge and skills of their salespeople - when, in fact, that might be their only salvation.

Recently I spoke with Larry, the senior VP of sales for a technology-driven company. Last year was a brutal year for his dealers-orders were... read more >>
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Twitter and Politics: Friends or Foes?

by Andy Beal on 03/08/2010 17:02   0 comments , 498 views
Categories: Trust, Twitter, Online Community, Social Selling, Newspapers, Branding, Marketing
Tags: political marketing obama, plouffe axelrod twitter obama, social media obama campaign, obama twitter press strategy


If you can believe it, we are rapidly approaching the 1 ½ year “anniversary” of the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States. This event was historic and monumental on many different levels and not the least of which is how candidate Obama utilized social media to get into office.

Now, before I get started here please relax and understand that this is not a political post. It is more about a lesson about how social media can be a real double-edged sword. Why? Well, I have heard more than one social media “expert” express disappointment in the President’s relative abandonment of the medium after he was elected. I have postulated elsewhere that he may have actually set back the usage of social media for political advantage. Why? It’s a matter of trust and many feel it was violated to some degree. If you feel the urge to argue this please leave me out. I am just parroting what I have heard more than once. So you know where I stand personally, I am not a trusting sort of any politician at any time of any party.

Fox News reports on the uptick in social media usage by the White House

Blending behind-the-scenes nuggets with a defense of ...

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Five Powers of Coaching

by Kevin Eikenberry on 03/08/2010 07:24   0 comments , 323 views
Categories: Sales
Tags: sales coaching skills

Spiderman, Wonder Woman and Superman all had super powers; they had special skills that allowed them to be super heroes.

Bulls EyeThey had great powers given to them at birth that made them special. Generally speaking, they didn’t have to develop those powers, they just had them. We too were born with tremendous skills, but unlike like our comic book and big screen heroes, we have to work to understand and develop those powers.

Because they are fictional characters, it might seem easier for them. We on the other hand can’t become “Super”, “Outstanding” or even “Remarkable” in any phase of our lives, as speakers, teachers, parents, singers, ballplayers, < insert="" anything="" you="" want="">, or leaders without help or coaching.

Our “Super Powers” can only develop with help; to reach our potential we can’t do it ourselves. Here are five powers coaching gives you to help you unleash your own potential and become the best you can be. You might even say they could be your super powers.

The Power of Focus. Having a coach can help you stay focused. Great coaches will help you determine your goals (or understand them if they already exist), and then help you stay focused on ... read more >>

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Creating Resonation Points in Your Customer: Six Sales Tips to Sell More

by Skip Anderson on 03/08/2010 06:34   0 comments , 379 views
Categories: Customer Experience, Sales
Tags: customer engagement, emotion economy

 I have a stunning admission to make: I sing in the shower.

There. I said it. I'm a shower singer: Billie Jean; Fly Me to the Moon; The second movement of Brahms' German Requiem; Single Ladies; Birthday Sex; Macarena...they're all in my shower repertoire. Our dog LuLu loves it. My wife? Not so much.

One thing I enjoy about singing in my shower is the standing waves you hit on certain pitches that double or triple the volume of that pitch. If you start with a low pitch and gradually sing to a higher pitch (like a siren going from low to high), you'll discover one note that seems to boom forth within the room. This pitch resonates because of the acoustic properties of the room relative to the wavelength of the actual tone you are singing. We'll call this a resonance point.

But enough about acoustics. How does this apply to selling?

As salespeople, we love to talk. Some would say salespeople talk too much. Much of what we have to say, though, passes in one ear of our customers and out the other ear.

Customers are like diners at a buffet restaurant: they can't eat everything, so they ignore the dishes that don't inspire them and seek out those that do. There's just ...

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Do You Trust the Taxi-Driver? Or Not?

by Charles Green on 03/08/2010 05:57   0 comments , 201 views
Categories: Trust, Customer Experience
Tags: trustworthy, trustworthiness

I spent last week in Denmark, 40 miles outside of Copenhagen. While nearly every Dane speaks near-perfect English, I of course stand out as an American.

I took a taxi from a resort hotel venue to the local train station. The fare was 70 kroner (about 15 dollars). I gave the driver a 200-kroner note. He gave me back 30 kroner change.

So here’s the question: If it were you in that situation, what would you instantly assume about what is going on?

Trusting vs. Being Trustworthy

Much of what we usually talk about on Trust Matters is trustworthiness, as opposed to trusting. They are not the same thing; in fact they are quite distinct. 

 The ability to trust strangers (as will be described in this week’s Trust Quotes interview ... read more >>

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