This article originally appeared in the July 2020 issue of Security Business magazine. When sharing, don’t forget to mention @SecBusinessMag on Twitter and Security Business magazine on LinkedIn.
I have lost count how many times I have written or read in these pages the importance of trust for security providers – so much so that even writing or the phrase “trusted advisor” has almost begun to feel buzzwordy and cliché.
That said, I will run the risk of sounding even more like Professor Platitude, because being a trusted advisor – heck, being trusted in general – is something that is really tough to come by these days. Just consider this group, who by poll, survey and anecdote Americans have traditionally trusted in the past half century: Law enforcement, military leaders, journalists….even elected officials. Where is that trust level today?
Even if it is via the misguided or hateful actions of a few bad apples, our general trust in law enforcement has been starkly and quickly eroded in the past six weeks, perhaps to irreparable levels. Gallup just sent me this nugget: During President Nixon’s impeachment, 70% of Americans said they trusted the U.S. news media; today, only 41% trust news media – which is lower than both Congress (48%) and President Trump (50%). For whatever the reasons behind it, the bottom line is that the trust level in journalism has seen a severe erosion in the past 40-plus years. I hope and pray that trade journalism falls into a special (and different) category!
COVID-19 has taken the concept of trust to a whole new level – one that none of us has ever experienced. Think about it first on a grand scale: Do you trust your local government when it tells you that it is safe to reopen? Do you trust the federal government to have everything in place to handle virus response? Do you trust the crap you see when you are scrolling Facebook or Twitter? Do you ever watch the nightly news?
I would bet that the vast majority would answer a resounding NO to all of those, so let’s dig a little deeper – and this is where it starts to sting. Do you trust your employer when they tell you they do not intend to close the doors or make mass layoffs? Do you trust that your employer is doing everything possible to keep you safe – that the office is clean, and everyone need not worry about coming back (or continuing) to work? Do you trust that the business you are visiting has done everything in its power to keep the virus from spreading?
Now we are talking about your business and your customers – and yes, the security industry still has plenty of trust, but reassurance and truthfulness are key to maintaining it.
Here’s an example: When your panicked customer calls and insists they need a thermal system for temperature monitoring, instead of just sending them a technician and an invoice, tell them everything you know about these systems. Tell them that in many cases, the tremendous pressure has created a rush to market for these technologies, and that you are seeing some products get deployed that are not providing the outcome that the customer expected.
Send them to sources like the FDA (see http://fda.gov/medical-devices) before you let them buy an expensive system. Give them alternatives.
If your customer indeed does not get the outcome they expected, it erodes their trust in your business; and in you as an individual.
We have certainly seen this in the security industry’s past – just think back to the promises made by video analytics or facial recognition companies in their early days and how long it really took for the industry to trust them enough to specify and recommend them again.
Just remember – losing a sale at the expense of keeping your trust is often a worthwhile trade-off. Nobody ever said that building trust is easy, but there is little doubt how easy it is to lose it.
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Business magazine (www.securitybusinessmag.com). Email him your comments or topic suggestions at [email protected].
