Trust is the biggest indicator of whether a client-consultant relationship will work. If there’s no trust, it’s going to end and it will likely end badly.
It goes both ways. A good social media consultant will spend loads of time proving they should have their client’s trust. And a good client should do the same.
So how does a client do that? Let’s talk about it.
Follow up on fan questions quickly
A social media consultant is in the firing line. They know a lot about your organization and can easily get some answers to your fans. But not all.
So when they pass off a fan question to you, the expectation is that this has become priority number one (except in few cases, of course). In an ideal world, you’d get an answer back within thirty minutes, and if you can’t provide the answer yourself, letting them know that you are working on the answer. Doing your best to get an answer as quickly as possible is one the quickest ways to build trust with a social media consultant.
On the flip side, making a social media consultant feel like these questions are not the priority is the easiest way to kill any trust you might have built with them. They are stuck with a fan that may be unhappy, and they’re watching a potential relationship get ruined in real time. And there is only so much you can say to buy time. When the job is to build as many fruitful relationships with fans as possible, this can be devastating.
Compliment their work
Social media consultants are used to being beat down. There’s always a fan that is mad at them or thinks they can do their job better. And clients are always critical of something. They’re stuck in the middle of the fans and clients in a tug of war that can be draining.
So making sure you always find something positive to say goes a very, very long way. It goes against the norm and is so surprising. Wait, you don’t want to criticize something? You don’t think you can do this better than me? You actually like this? I almost don’t know what to say when someone compliments my work, and I know I’m not alone here.
Looking for something positive to say at every meeting is such a simple act, and yet it can be the most effective way to build trust. And that’s just because social media is an industry where positivity is in short supply. Be that person who adds to that short supply.
Trust is about being honest
My worst clients have always been those who lie to me. I don’t really understand why any client lies or tries to hide facts from me. It just shoots them in the foot because I can’t ever trust them or what they’re telling me. That makes everything harder.
My favorite clients go out of their way to make sure I’m as educated about what is going on in their organization as possible. And then they even tell me about any upcoming issues that might affect the community, even if it’s not directly related to the organization. This helps me prepare and be able to respond to fans quickly, which is glorious.
And then above all else, I trust and value any client who is honest with me about their thoughts on my work. Trying to be nice and not give me your real thoughts only gets in the way of the work getting better. I want that as much as you do, and doing that as efficiently as possible is good for everyone. And I respect and trust you more when you are straight with what you want.
Trust as a practice
Real trust is built over many little actions over a course of time. Continually practicing those actions and giving your trust as well is the path towards gain the trust of your social media consultant. In other words, the more you give trust, the more you earn trust. Keep practicing trusting your social media consultant and they will keep practicing trusting you as well.
How have you gained the trust of your social media consultant?