Our recommendations

We asked business leaders and the public 5 key questions about trust in business, and they answered. Here are our recommendations in response to their answers ...

Q1: Can you purposefully work on building trust and remain authentic?

While both businesses and the public agree that it is possible to build trust purposefully yet authentically, some leaders believe that if you focus on doing the right thing and stay true to your mission, then trust will follow.

We argue that you should in fact focus on trust-building first as it is a tangible and measurable asset. Delve a little deeper, and it becomes clear that to purposefully build it, you must have the following building blocks in place:

1. A purpose is not a fluffy textbook term
Successful companies are built not from the ground up, but from the purpose up.

Consider the findings reported in the Journal of Business Research: consumers are more loyal to a business when they aren’t just buying into a logo, but are also “buying into a set of values”.

Brands with this level of self-awareness, will have the culture, internal values and behaviours which inject legitimacy into their trust-building.

2. Everyone has a role to play
Some companies are tempted to toss the “trust-building thing” over to marketing, advertising, or public relations. While those groups are essential to the process, they cannot carry the torch alone. Everyone inside your organisation must be involved, including senior management. All it takes for a “trust leak” to happen is just one gap amongst the many touch points between your business and its many stakeholders.

3. Delivering on your promises
Once you have a purpose, and everyone in your organisation is on board, then commit to providing sincere, total experiences.

For example, the CEOs, survey participants and focus group mentioned the importance of delivering quality products and services. Consistent with PwC’s Trustworthy Organisation Model, the 2014 Authentic Brands Study by brand consultancy Cohn & Wolfe revealed that consumers prioritise “high quality” (66%) and “delivering on promises” (70%).

In short, authenticity isn’t a destination—it’s a journey. And, step by step, your journey must focus on defining and expressing authenticity through stakeholder experiences that are, at once, authentic, intentional, and wholly integrated. Why? Because people don’t want to hear your intentions—who you say you are and what you say you do. They want to experience them.

Contact us

Pauline Ho

Pauline Ho

Building Trust Programme Sponsor & Assurance Partner, PwC Malaysia

Tel: +60 (3) 2173 0946

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