It’s popular to claim that “trust is down.” Mostly, that’s true. It’s definitely true that trust in government in the US has declined. It’s a bit less true of big business, but not enough to be proud of. Edelman basically has it right: trust is broadly on the decline. This is mainly a business blog, so let’s […]
Walgreens, the venerable (116 years old, second largest) US drugstore chain, has announced a new tagline as part of a new brand positioning strategy. No longer will it be “At the corner of happy and healthy” – the new mantra is “Trusted Since 1901.” Well. I wish Walgreen’s nothing but the best, and don’t doubt their […]
In a word – no. But the reason why is not the usual critique. Let me explain. Origins in Distrust Bitcoin was born of distrust. Its original fan-base was an amalgam of nerds, futurists, libertarians and survivalists. They were enticed by several features of the new crypto-currency: a decentralized network, beyond the control of governments and […]
In the financial trading community, there is a concept called “risk-on, risk-off,” or RoRo for short. It refers to the general market sentiment at a point in time. Simply put, if the prevailing trend is toward more risky and aggressive instruments (e.g., stocks, emerging markets), that is called “risk-on.” If the trend is toward less […]
Sometimes when it comes to sales, we approach it as if there were some specific model or equation to follow in order to result in closed business. A + B must equal C. So, many of us tend to look for this equation over and over again. If we didn’t get it right – it […]
It happened again the other day. A (fairly articulate) participant in one of my workshops said: Charlie, you don’t understand our system. We can’t do the trust stuff you suggest when the incentive system is set up the way it is. We get paid on the basis of the transactions we bring in and close; […]
You’ve heard, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” You’ve also heard the reverse. You’ve heard, “You’ve got a limited amount of time to impress them; use it.” But you’ve also heard, “Let the client do most of the talking.” And you’ve probably heard, “You’ve got to be just a little smarter than […]
This is the first in an occasional series on trust in particular industry verticals. This post looks at the consulting industry. ———— In consulting, some things are changing. And some are not. The biggest trend is, of course, the digitization of the firm’s service offerings. For example, nearly three quarters of one large consulting firm’s […]
I spoke with BigCo, Inc. They wanted their B2B salespeople to become trusted advisors. They felt (correctly) that greater trust levels with their customers would result in greater intra-customer market share and greater profitability. And they were right – as far as that goes. But they then described to me their implementation plan. It consisted […]
When we think of capitalism, we typically think of competition as a central, driving force. At a macro-level, we have enshrined the value of competition in our antitrust laws. We think of competition between providers as a way to increase innovation and reduce costs. Adam Smith is frequently (and somewhat inaccurately) cited as the prophet […]