Measure What Matters: Trust in an Age of Transparency
Posted by CommsAdmin on Nov. 14, 2014 / PRSA Mid America, Events / Subscribe 0
In today’s digital media environment, where measurement and metrics are increasingly emphasized, Dr. Brad Rawlins, Dean of the College of Media and Communications at Arkansas State University, stressed that we must not forget to measure what matters, which is relationships. In particular, he stressed the need to communicate and measure trust and transparency. We can try to measure sales, but keep in mind that in public relations, promotion is the only one of the four P’s of marketing which communicators have control over.
Alternately, the Four E’s of Marketing
In a world where digital and social media allow for more consumer engagement, Rawlins proposed that the four E’s of marketing might be a better fit. He listed the four E’s of Marketing as experience, environment, exchange and evangelism during his keynote presentation at the PRSA Digital Communications Summit on November 7 at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Rawlins said that these metrics result in a relationship with the client which is more enduring than sales.
The main E of Marketing Rawlins focused on was evangelism since we all need advocates. To have advocates they need to trust us, the brand or the organization.
Gaining Your Customers’ Trust
What would you do if you were asked to be blindfolded and trust someone you just met to guide you through a situation you know may cause pain? Imagine you had to place your hand over a mouse trap to set it off while being blindfolded and follow the instructions of someone sitting next to you. It is likely that you would find it hard to develop a sense of trust if you both don’t have a prior relationship or bond established. During his presentation, Rawlins asked his audience to do exactly that. He instructed communicators with the best strategy to release a mouse trap and then a select few were challenged to place their trust in another person’s hands.
After the exercise, those who had been blindfolded said they felt vulnerable because they had to depend solely on the other person’s ability to communicate effective instructions. Those who were successful found that when their partner used their point of view and sounded confident and competent, they were able to trust them more easily. Rawlins used this exercise to explain how our consumers or clients feel when they have to place their trust in public relations professionals and organizations.
What exactly is trust and why do we need to have it in public relations? According to Rawlins, trust is “a perception of others that enables us to take a risk because we believe they will be competent, honest and not take advantage of us.”
If our audiences do not trust us, we will not be able to develop long-term relationships and we will not be able to operate more efficiently and effectively. Trust is comprised of four different dimensions: competence, goodwill, integrity and openness. Rawlins conducted a survey of 385 employees at a large healthcare organization and the results showed that belief in integrity and goodwill explained a person’s willingness to be vulnerable more than belief in competence did. It is easy to be competent about a topic or issue but it is the openness that will show how transparent the organization is.
Keeping Transparency at the Forefront
He said transparent organizations should not be secretive with information but in turn should give the audience what they need. If you are not transparent with information, Rawlins said you will be owned by the message instead of owning the message. This is where trust can falter and you can lose control of your relationship.
“It is easy to be transparent when buff but harder to be transparent with flaws,” Rawlins said. He advised to establish a transparency and relationship with your clients prior to crises so that your trust will make you seem buff in their eyes. This includes sharing information, providing information that holds you accountable and being open.
Dr. Rawlins closed with the quote, “we should be trust managers as well as communication managers.” This means that we should demonstrate concern and consideration, be open and honest in business practices, identify what information your publics need to manage their relationship with you, communicate clearly, effectively and straightforwardly, and to be candid and accountable.
If you ever get stuck on how to be transparent in any given situation, just remember the rules we all learned in kindergarten. Think of others before yourself and let your actions speak louder than your words.
How will you increase your transparency to become a better trust communicator? (Please share your comments below)
This post is courtesy of Nicole Halpin who serves as a volunteer for PRSA St. Louis. Nicole was previously the Conference Chair for the Digital Communications Summit and will be a Co-Chair for the Midwest District Conference in 2015. You can catch up with her on Twitter @nehalpin12.
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