This question is one that consumers often think about and ask of businesses and brands every single day. There are a number of things that businesses and brands are doing that are aiding in giving customers reasons to believe and interact with them. These include: being authentic, honest, good corporate citizens, transparent as well as showing empathy and understanding to all stakeholders (whose word of mouth has the potential to be very influential).

While these are all great, what is it that businesses and brands can do to not be simply reactive, and when questioned provide the proof of the good they are doing? The key is to be proactive, to shift from the mindset of “We have nothing to hide” to one whereby businesses and brands are ahead of the game and actually go out and showcase and prove they have nothing to hide.

Trendwatching.com refers to this demand by customers as “full frontal” and go on to state that this is a result of a definitive lack of trust in businesses. Businesses and brands have been guilty of often “greenwashing” and being more focused on communicating the mission and vision together with brand culture and values all in varying degrees of ambiguity.

If you want to give stakeholders a real reason to believe in and interact with your business and brand, then this is the time to start communicating clearly using actual facts, evidence and statements based on what you can actually prove and have actually done (not planning to do or achieve, rather than simply communicating the “we aim to achieve…” fluff and being verbose, as this is certainly not going to be what a time-pressured, educated consumer will be wanting to hear from a brand trying to get their attention.