As the FT reviews the entries for their inaugural ranking of leading management consultancies, the importance of trust is once again highlighted. 

It reminded me of a study I conducted, learning about the optimum amount of time to chat to someone when proposing to date them. This was a few years back and if you are interested you can find 82 pages of my findings here. 

The research ended up with an online dating site and their core need was to understand how users could increase the chances of being trusted, more perfect matches and therefore a more successful service (more revenue!). 

When it comes to business, trust is just as important in building reputations and increasing trade. Peter Kollock demonstrates in his journal how trading partners will often stick to well established partners, despite being given better offers. They will also protect their partners from poor quality goods, whilst happily selling such goods to others. Further studies by Ernst Fehr, show that the enforcement of contracts and the efficiency are amplified by strong reputations and incentives.

If this is the case, doing anything possible to increase a chance of trust is vital to a business.  According to an Accenture study, 94% of B2B buyers conduct online research at some point in the buying process. Making the need to ensure this trust is being built online even more vital.

The need for a strong and reputable brand as a firm but also employees is becoming a necessity. 

Expert people buy from expert people in high-value b2b transactions and therefore, giving your employees the best chance to be trusted will move the needle for your business. Most firms already encourage this through physical activities however the statistics within the Accenture research indicate digital activities such as timely market commentary or opinion is vital.

How do you do this? Our co-founder, Adam talks to this point here with the 'virtuous circle'.