Building Trust

Trust is a fuzzy thing. Ask a hundred people about trust, and we can get a hundred unique responses. Let's explore it in a mathematical perspective. Every business starts with a Trust Balance of zero. Events will increase or decrease the Trust Balance. When the Trust Balance is positive, trade and engagement is possible, while no trade and engagement is possible when the Trust Balance is negative. Broadly speaking, three properties affect how Trust is increased. They are Time, Frequency and Positive Energies.

Time is a passive way to increase Trust. For example, a business that has been operating for 100 years have more trust than one that started yesterday. Frequency refers to how often a person have heard or seen your business. For example, a person that have heard of a business 100 times is more likely to trust it than a business that he has not heard before. Business activities such as marketing and branding seeks to manipulate this property. Positive Energies is the feeling a person feels when interacts with your business. For example, good customer reviews, good product designs, and good customer experience all serve to generate positive feelings. As a positive Trust Balance is necessary for trade to occur, we must constantly remind ourselves to build Trust.