Subject: TRUST
Editorial by Al McClain
According to a Gallup Poll cited in the 6-12-05 New York Times Magazine,
only eight percent of Americans trust big business "a great deal."
Here are the numbers:
There are lots of interesting things in these numbers, including the indication that none of these institutions are trusted “a great deal” by a majority of Americans, but since the retailing industry is really one giant big business, let’s take a look at that.
We spend a lot of time in these pages interpreting what the average shopper thinks and does, talking about ways to wring more efficiency out of the distribution system, and getting employees to do more work with a better attitude. Yet, for all the efforts of big business to “do better” and constantly make their quarterly numbers, one of the bottom lines is that only eight percent of Americans trust big business “a great deal.” Add that to “quite a lot” and you still only get twenty-two percent. Worse, big business ranks below Congress and TV news, and way below banks.
Could it be that for all the efforts to introduce new products, satisfy consumers, lower labor costs, satisfy employees, be more efficient, and so on, that we’re overlooking trust as something we need to work on? If consumers don’t trust you, really…what have you got? Have consumers noticed corporate big wigs going to jail, never ending line extensions that don’t really add value to peoples’ lives, constant legal and turf battles among big businesses, and poor service by airlines trying to take them somewhere? And are they just saying “we don’t trust these guys”?
Lots of big businesses do great things for lots of consumers to make their lives better. But, when big businesses as a whole are trusted just slightly more than HMOs, which are generally reviled, you know there’s a serious problem. Maybe all of us ought to work at getting our companies and industries to take a better look in the mirror, and see what we can really do to improve our relationships with consumers.
Moderator’s Comment: Are there retailers in business
today that are trusted by consumers? If yes, how is that trust demonstrated
and what did the retailer do to develop it?
–
Al McClain – Moderator
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10 Comments on "Subject: TRUST"
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It is never the steak and always the sizzle. The public handcuffing of company executives gives Americans good reason for skepticism…regardless of the good hard work from the operationally minded employees. Accountability must be baked into the equation and easily seen by the consumers.
I see the early leader in the poll is “improve service,” and I’d agree. When you can never get anybody on the phone, and nobody in the store knows the answer or can find out, and “consumer rebates” never come back after you’ve sent in all the paperwork, you come to feel, and I think rightly so, that business doesn’t really care about the shopper. They care about having the lowest cost structure. Um, hello???
Caveat Emptor. Anyone who trusts a seller deserves what they get. Hurray for those polled by Gallup for their strong exhibition of healthy skepticism. Of course, thinking observers must factor “fashionable response” into these responses. Additionally, Gallup presents no definition of the public’s perception of what is meant by “big business.” I think of Enron, and I don’t see a warning sign for most retailers here.
I think Ben Ball might be on to something when he says the public in general no longer regards the profit motive as a good thing. It’s really not so much that profits are bad, it’s how you get there and what lines companies are willing or not willing to cross to make more money. Costco is another retailer people trust – their policies of returns accepted without question is a big reason, in my mind. Another is that people know they treat their employees well.
I believe that most do not TRUST big businesses simply because most people that have worked or had a family member work for a big business deal with and are subjected to many ethics, integrity and moral issues that prove that the company is not to be trusted.
How can you trust big business when you work for a company that looks and feels unethical and has what you interpret as huge integrity issues?
How can you trust a business that casts aside general questions asked of its corporate officers?
Most Big Businesses seem to be immune to questions asked.