Six Ways to Earn Trust as a Startup

After launching your startup and seeking funding, a critical next step is earning trust. Earning trust as a startup is the process of building credibility and reliability with key stakeholders, including investors, potential partners, and customers. This foundational element is essential for long-term success and growth.

First impressions are crucial for a new business. If you aren't gaining the trust you need from investors, potential new hires, or competitors, it may be time to evaluate your approach. We will explore six key strategies you can implement immediately to earn trust and build respect for your startup.

#1—Learn How to Say "No"

This may seem counter-intuitive initially, but it will change your world once you learn how to do it effectively. There are a couple of caveats here, of course.

You can't just say "No" to a customer request and leave it at that. If a customer is asking for freebies because you're new and they promise to talk you up to all their friends, you need to be able to say, “That's not a request we can fulfill at this time, how about we do XYZ instead…”

When you turn down a customer's above-and-beyond request, return later with an offer to do something extra, but on your terms. This way, you don't set the precedent that you'll do anything asked of you, while still showing that you're more than willing to go above and beyond when appropriate.

All this comes down to showing that you respect yourself, your company, and your available resources and aren't willing to sacrifice any of these. Yet, it also shows that you value your customers and are willing to demonstrate that by doing what's necessary to keep them happy.

#2—Solve a Problem

People are looking for solutions. That's probably how some of your early clients found you in the first place: they searched on Google for an answer and found your startup. Be there to provide that answer, and you’ll have a customer for life.

This problem-solving approach to earning trust can take several forms:

• Marketing Materials: Craft your marketing to show how your product will solve the pain points you know your audience is experiencing. Ensure your sales team focuses on this in their pitches.
• Content Marketing: Use your company's social media presence and other content marketing efforts to provide valuable answers. Ensure your marketing and social media teams (even if that's just you) direct click-throughs to landing pages that house this information.
• Diverse Content Creation: Create images, videos, and blog posts highlighting all the different ways your product does what it does. Talk about all the industries it can be used in and the various problems it will solve.

This approach creates multiple streams of content that show a unified front of usefulness. It demonstrates to potential customers exactly how you and your product will solve the problem they came to Google to solve, making them more likely to become your customers.

#3—Don't Grow Too Big, Too Fast

It's always easier to be a big fish in a small pond than a guppy in the Pacific. Keep your startup at the size you need to be to serve your existing client base plus what you foresee in the coming six months. That way, you stay nimble enough to pivot if necessary while being able to keep your existing customers happy.

This also applies in the other direction: think about the size of your clients. Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMB) are nimble and have proven willing to take chances. After all, these companies are taking a chance just by existing in today's business market, making them more likely to take a chance on another small business to support their needs. These businesses can also make decisions quickly without getting bogged down in the bureaucracy that larger companies generally develop, which helps everyone's bottom line.

#4—Keep It Simple

OK, we mean the acronym K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple, Stupid. But that didn't sound like a great heading. It is a fun little saying, though, with big implications.

There's some overlap here, as one of the primary ways to keep things simple is not to outgrow yourself. If you try to take on too many clients too quickly, you risk being unable to support your existing customers, who will then pack up and leave, taking their referrals with them.

Finally, keeping it simple means you should not try to be everything to everyone. That path never ends well, often resulting in:

• Burned-out employees
• Underwhelming sales numbers
• More fires than you can possibly put out

Keeping it simple lets you focus on your people, product, and customers simultaneously.

#5—Under-Promise, Over-Deliver (at Least at First)

Going above and beyond has already been discussed, but it also comes into play here. This is an excellent way to impress your early customers, especially if you can do it to highlight how much your product is helping them. These early successes are also fantastic tools that give you marketing fodder going forward. Testimonials and awards look SO GOOD to potential clients and investors alike.

Be careful with this one, however. Don't let it become standard operating procedure to go above and beyond, or soon you'll find that it's no longer above or beyond and has become an expected part of your services.

#6—Be Genuine

Being genuine can cover a lot of ground and is a cornerstone of earning trust. It means you must be authentic in your actions and communications. This includes several key behaviors:

• Be Yourself: Be transparent, and be sure your company's voice is yours.
• Don't Lie: People don't like liars. If you lie about your industry knowledge, for example, you'll never earn back that lost respect once you're called out.
• Demonstrate Expertise: Know your business inside and out and be willing and able to prove it daily.
• Be Willing to Pivot: This should not be done for just any reason, but in response to market feedback, customer requests, and team member suggestions. This willingness shows that you truly care about each of these audiences and are not so full of yourself that you can't admit when you were off base and make necessary course corrections.

Earning Trust is Essential for Growth

As we stated initially, first impressions matter. Earning trust as a startup is not a one-time action but an ongoing commitment. Demonstrating as many of these tips as possible when you first sit down with a prospective client or an investor will show that your priorities are with your company, people, and customers. This will help gain you the trust you deserve right from that first meeting, helping you move from startup to scaleup.