Trust or bust

Let’s talk about trust, y’all.

I recently took my biannual visit to the dentist. I decided to try a new doctor this time around after scheduling conflicts with my usual guy, and after it was all said and done, I found myself exiting the building with a sour taste in my mouth (both literally and figuratively).

My visit started out great: a beautiful office building, seemingly friendly staff, and Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style” serenading me in the background. (Side note: my mother refused to let me listen to this song as a kid because she claimed it was ‘vindictive,’ but I’m a grown man now and I do what I want.)

Things took a turn for the worse, however, as soon as I sat down for my checkup. Unlike the usual pleasant banter that I’m used to experiencing with my dentist in between pointy objects going in and out of my mouth, I felt like I had just stepped into a car salesman’s arena. Every other sentence was a sales pitch for a ‘new and exciting’ product that was a ‘must have’; evidently getting extra money out of me was more important than the dentist doing his actual job.

This was no bueno.

I tell this story to you, dear reader, because if I am wary of the person dealing with my teeth, imagine how I feel about the person dealing with my money.

According to a 2014 Harris poll surveying U.S. adults, half of those surveyed said their trust in banks had declined over the years. 

This should come as no surprise when bankers themselves view their profession as dishonest, as suggested by a study conducted at the University of Zurich.

The findings, which were published in the journal Nature, suggest that bankers behave dishonestly only when they feel that is what is expected of them, said Alain Cohn, who is now with the University of Chicago. Perhaps, he said, banks should take a page from medicine and require their own version of the Hippocratic oath."

First impressions are vital in establishing a good rapport with your clients, and building trust can only happen if you have their best interest in mind.

What steps do you take to ensure that your Credit Union’s members are in good hands? Leave a comment below! 

DeAndré

DeAndre Upshaw is a former Young & Free Texas Spokester. He's a marketing professional living in Dallas and a Beyonce enthusiast. DeAndre is the host and executive producer of The State of Awesome. Follow him on Twitter and check out his personal website.