Trustworthiness Beats Trust
Haircut above the rest
I’ve never written a review before, but I read them. A lot. Where I live in South London, there are four barbers within a 500 metre radius. Seven if you include Afro-Caribbean barber shops. Nine if you include hairdressers.
Nine.
Of the four barbers applicable to my short back and sides, the barber I chose was a family run business, established in 1936. Which is one World War, 19 Prime Ministers, four recessions, and a global pandemics worth of haircuts.
That’s a lot of hair.
But it wasn’t the smell of hairspray, the blitz or inflation that made me walk in and sit on the pleather red bench, it was their 4.9 rating on Google Reviews.
Win wines
When I’m buying wine—which I know nothing about—to simplify my decision making, I only choose bottles that have won an award. Now, I have no idea if the awards are real, credible, or hard to achieve. But I’ll go on the record and say the wines with award stickers taste better.
Knowing some expert in a marquee on a vineyard somewhere is Portugal, once had a gulp and gave it a rosette, is the kind of story I want to think about when I’m pouring a glass of red.
Being an amateur in behavioural psychology, I know the very idea of an £8 bottle of wine winning an award will make the wine taste better.
Better to me? Definitely. Better than the others? Who cares.
Tell them I sent you
I have a friend who is ‘on the scene’ when it comes to restaurants. They know where to go. They know where not to go. They know who’s who.
They’ve earned the reputation for having reliably good taste. Over a decade-long friendship, they haven’t recommended a dud yet. So now I don’t ask questions.
They also genuinely care, it’s their passion, you can see they feel connected to the whole scene. If they started a newsletter, I’d read it.
Can I have my ice cream back?
I was in Istanbul recently and got to see the famous Maraş Dondurma ice cream trick up close. It’s seamless. You can tell they do it day in day out and have done for years. They don’t think they just act (and put on a show).
When someone has put in the work we can tell. It might look like work but it feels like play. The Dondurma ice cream men of Turkey have put in the work and they know how to play.
Good things come to those who wait
There is a reason why Guinness has ‘Established in 1759’ foiled on the glass—credibility. Seventeen years before America declared independence, Dubliners were drinking Guinness. Now that’s what I call a data point.
‘Do the opposite’
There’s a saying in my friendship group when we go on holiday: ‘Whatever Tristan says, do the opposite’. Catchy.
Why is this a saying? Because when it comes to directions in a new city, I’m confident but clueless. I’ve taken people the wrong way so many times, people don’t trust my directions any more. They trust me, but not my judgement when navigating to the museum or bar or the museum bar.
I have a chip on my shoulder about maps. Maybe because I don’t like looking like a tourist. Definitely because I like to pretend like I know where I’m going.
I know Central London like the back of my hand (there’s that confidence again). I’ll debate CityMapper suggestions until I’m blue in the face or we’ve missed the train. The problem is, I've lived in London for 13 years. I confuse being a competent homing pigeon with the familiarity of home. There’s a difference, and it’s usually in the opposite direction.
Same as it ever was
When an experience becomes reliable, trustworthiness builds in our mind. Coke tastes the same anywhere on the planet. Our expectations of sugar water are met every time.
Good job?
When we finish a job, if we’re confident to ask for a review, it’s a good indicator we know we’ve done a good job. If we’re not confident to ask…what else are we not confident about?
Trust me, I’m on it
Everyone has—or had—that one contractor that’s unreliable. You know who I’m talking about. Slapdash. Hit and miss. All over the place. Hard to pin down. Mr or Mrs Aloof. Do we use them again? No.
Are they still in business? Probably not.
Being labelled unreliable is hard to shrug off. Why? Because unreliability is untrustworthy, and untrustworthiness neighbours dishonesty.
Ain't nothin’ special about trust
It’s not that trust is bad, it’s just not enough.
Trust is needed for society to function. There is a modicum of trust dealt out to almost everything we interact with on a daily basis.
I trust the chair I’m sitting on right now not to break, despite having never sat on it before. I trust the coffee I’m drinking doesn’t contain arsenic. I trust the stranger sitting at the table by the door not to trip me on the way out of this café. Walking down the street, I trust the cars will not run me over. Drivers trust me not to walk down the middle of the road in my underwear.
Trusting our environment to not deviate from societal norms is the base model. (Unfortunately, certain societies struggle to cultivate even the base model).
There’s nothing special or distinguishing about trust. Trustworthiness however, must be earned.
Everyone knows someone
When a product is excellent, we buy two and gift one to a friend. When a product is half-assed, we get a refund or donate it to our nephew.
When a service is fantastic, we use it all the time and refer our colleagues. When a service is all over the place, we call someone else.
One bad experience is all it takes to alienate a customer. Multiple bad experiences are enough to wipe us out.
The internet simultaneously shrunk the world and raised everybody’s standards. Be careful who you neglect. Everyone knows someone.
Worthy of trust
There may be no mathematical equation why 265 years of Celtic heritage is so persuasive, or why repeatedly having our ice cream stolen is so fun. Why awards can improve taste, or why recommendations make us feel good. But when deciding between a 3.6 star or a 4.9 star haircut, there is.
Trustworthiness is showing up day in and day out for years. Trustworthiness is caring enough to put our reputation on the line.
Trustworthiness is doing what we’re good at long enough, people talk. Trustworthiness is saying what we do and delivering on our promise. Trustworthiness is putting in the work.
Trustworthiness is being worthy of trust.
