Fertile ground for integrity opportunities may surprise

There are loads of integrity opportunities at any company. That’s not because companies have little integrity—in order to sell anything you need some integrity—but because there’s no limit to integrity. One clue to sizeable integrity opportunities is whether a firm has a bit of market power. Firms with market power tend not to work on relationships of trust perhaps because they feel it’s unnecessary to their survival. The trouble is market power can change over time and it may be too late to build vital trust.

Think of a company like Verizon Wireless for a moment. Verizon has invested a great deal in its network but not in its relationship with customers. (The same could be said for Microsoft. Both companies have put a lot into their product but not much into relationships with customers.) What happens is that a company can sense its vulnerability (little customer loyalty to the company. It’s all about the product) but instead of doing positive things to build greater trust they end up making it worse by doing things to trap customers. Think of what’s involved when you sign up with Verizon. (I’m with Verizon and I was lucky that my husband took on the frustrating work of signing up)The different plans are difficult to understand (even the people working in the store admit they don’t understand them!) It takes time and energy to work through and sign up. The rebates they offer require lots of paper work (and hope on the part of Verizon that you can’t be bothered and they won’t have to pay out the money). The rebate is sent in the form of debit cards that are clumsy to use and time consuming if you keep track of your balance. On top of all of that, the monthly statements are difficult to understand and the format keeps changing. All in all, it’s a dreadful customer experience! Why would Verizon customers have any loyalty to the company if someone else came out with a better product?

Yet it doesn’t have to be that way. Verizon has a good product and should be building trust with its customers not only about the product but about the service it delivers and the way it values the entire customer experience. If Verizon started trusting its customers and did valuable things to exhibit that trust, it would be a far stronger business than it is today. Other industries are in similar situations. Think of financial services firms or credit cards. There’s a huge opportunity for companies with market power to build stronger relationships of trust with customers. And there’s nothing to lose except fear. If you have a great product, then trusting customers is only a win/win for everyone.