Top 10 Ways to Build Trust with Customers
By Bruce Kasanoff

1. Remember information for people, not about them. Each person should benefit from the information you remember for them, and they must approve in advance what you intend to do.

2. Don't confuse a relationship with advertising. If you are advertising, you don't have a relationship. Personal information should not be used for advertising.

3. Don't blab about your relationships to others. If your friends tell you personal information, you wouldn't give it to others. So don't sell, rent or share information about your customers.

4. Assume the answer is no. Advertisers like to brag that they allow people to "opt-out." That's like assuming a person will marry you unless they "opt-out." Unless a customer gives explicit permission, don't include them.

5. Serve instead of sell. Personalization is about service, not selling. Service is what wins, keeps and grow customers. Selling is useless without service.

6. People can't approve what they don't understand. Most people have no idea what technology now allows. Don't believe surveys that say people "aren't worried" about privacy.

7. Find products for customers, not customers for products. Most companies already have customers. Serve them better, and work harder to satisfy a broader range of their needs.

8. If you have permission, use personal information to deliver the four major benefits of personalization: save me time, save me money, provide me better (often less) information, or treat me special.

9. Feedback must change behavior. If you want a strong relationship with individual customers, respond immediately and meaningfully when they interact with you.

10. Good intentions aren't enough. Be sure your security systems are first-rate and your people practice what you preach. Respect for privacy isn't a statement; it's a way of life.