Your digital business is a secret intel op multiplied by a thousand.
Undercover spies in the field recruit and develop individual assets.
They spend weeks, months, and years building trust to get the secrets they are after.
You are recruiting and developing thousands of assets at the same time in your digital business.
That’s like the Holy Grail to the Intel Community.
And better yet, you have the tools, freedom, and capability to do it in a way that the IC can only dream of.
Building an elite business means using elite tactics.
- It’s not enough to send mass emails because you have the ability to do so.
- It’s not enough to automate sales calls with AI technology.
- It’s not enough to create intricate campaigns for a segmented audience.
The one thing that makes or breaks an op in the field – and in your business – is TRUST.
Without trust, your op will fall apart.
Customers will complain, boycott, and sap your resources.
At the very least, they just flat-out won’t buy.
That means you need to quickly and automatically build trust with your customers if you ever hope to recruit them to buyers.
Otherwise, you face the abyss where businesses go to die.
Luckily, our brains are shortcut masters… And those shortcuts can be hacked.
All the cognitive biases, heuristics, and irrational thinking that plague us can be leveraged to create a loyal, happy, and healthy customer base.
All you need to do is implement the FUTURE into your communications.
Focus
Understand
Teach
Urge
Remind
Echo
FUTURE is your framework for building rapid trust in your daily comms.
FOCUS on the customer
The customer’s problem is the ONLY problem.
And they are coming to you to solve it.
That means they don’t care about your story, your awards, your opinions, or your beliefs unless it helps solve their problem.
In a sense, they don’t care about you at all.
You have to focus on the customer and center them as the hero in all your communications.
Do this by removing personal pronouns (I, me, my) as much as possible.
Instead, talk to them directly, like you’re giving a friend some excellent advice.
UNDERSTAND their interests, problems, and feelings
You are biologically programmed to trust those in your group.
The same goes for your customers.
It’s called the in-group/out-group bias.
People in the same in-group understand each other.
Whether or not your customers are truly part of your in-group, you must treat them like they are.
Proving that you understand them shows empathy which builds natural trust.
TEACH them something valuable
Your customers need their problems solved.
That’s why they pay you.
And nothing proves your value more than giving them a quick win in their daily lives.
Give them free content with hard-hitting facts that solve real-world problems.
They will associate these little wins with you.
And that adds to the trust you’re building.
URGE them to take action
Most people don’t act unless they’re told to do so.
Maybe it’s evolutionary, maybe it’s conditioning from school…
The fact is, you need to call them to action to get that quick win.
This positions you as the authority that gets them to take the first step towards solving their problem and changing their life.
And all good authorities are trusted and liked.
REMIND them why they come to you
Keep your value on their mind with subtle and consistent reminders.
No one else will do it for you.
And the customer is on to the next thing once you’re not in front of them.
Keep them thinking about how much value they get out of you.
However, you must be tactful and careful with this.
It’s easy to sound conceited, inflated, and egotistical, which will do the exact opposite of what you want.
ECHO their biases, beliefs, and thoughts
Nothing says in-group as much as mind-reading.
Look at any friend group, small organization, or close-knit family – they all have roughly the same beliefs, attitudes, and values.
When you confirm what your customer already believes, you make them feel safe and secure.
As if they were among trusted friends and family.
And who does someone trust more than their best friend or favorite sibling?
The FUTURE framework for building trust is informed by two million years of cognitive evolution.
All the work you do to sharpen your mindset is exactly the edge you need to leverage this evolution and run your successful business op.
Because the truth is, most people are not aware of how vulnerable their mind, their beliefs, and their trust are to simple, repeatable hacks.
Use the FUTURE framework to set your business apart and grow your network of dedicated customers.