Is trust the same as credibility?
March 5, 2009
Simply put, credibility is the confidence that others have in your ability to deliver results in support of a business. Trust is the confidence in your integrity and reliability. It is easier to win credibility (which is equivalent to competence) —- but trust? That is a different ball game altogether.
The ability to perform is integral to credibility. If you have consistently been delivering value to your customers, over time they will come to perceive you as credible. However in order to win their trust, you would have to walk that extra mile, perhaps improve your after-sales service, set-up a grievance redressal mechanism etc., walk the talk and live up to your values — something that Satyam managementand its promoter, Ramalingam Raju did not do and look where he’s led his company today!
One of the earliest — and perhaps the best — examples of a trust policy was written by Theodore Vail, the first president of AT&T, who wrote: “The only policy to govern the publicity of AT&T is that whatever is said or told should be absolutely correct, and that no material fact, even if unfavorable but bearing on the subject, should be held back…. Attempted concealment of material fact cannot but be harmful in the end.”
This simple policy is as relevant and strong today, as it was 100 years ago. Log on to Trust Quotient self-assessment quiz. In just five minutes, you will know your trust quotient (TQ). The quiz, based on the work of Charles H. Green, who defines TQ as:
TQ= C+R+1/S
Where:
TQ = Trust Quotient (trustworthiness)
C = Credibility
R = Reliability
I = Intimacy
S = Self-orientation
Credibility comes with business knowledge. Trust however is about relationships. You may have skill and knowledge, based on which you may be able to establish credibility but in order to also win your customer’s trust you would have to be on a more firm footing with your business partners.
There are of course several ways and means through which managers can earn both credibility and trust for their organizations. To begin with, they can begin to develop a deeper knowledge of the business and industry in which they operate in. They must also stay connected with their field staff, dealers and vendors in order to remain clued in to the response generated by their products and services. Regular field visits are extremely important in this regard.
Yet, in the end, after doing all this, what they might succeed in establishing is just credibility. For trust, they would have to routinely ask themselves two simple questions:
“Do I accept accountability for both good and poor results of my company?” and
“Do I operate in an ethical and authentic manner?”
If Raju had just asked himself these two questions and if the answers to both these questions had been “yes,” Satyam perhaps would not be in a position it finds itself in today —- fighting for its survival!
That’s the difference between Satyam and Infosys. Satyam had credibility; while Infosys has trust and look where they are both today!
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Credibility and Trust are according to me interdependent concepts, both go hand in hand. I think for any BPO/Outsourcing service to survive the competition, it is essential that they retain the trust and confidence their clients have in them. At every step and moment, every action needs to be analysed whether it will help or ruin the trust and credibility.