Why CRM should focus on trust not tactics

Trust-led growth. Internally and externally. Maybe that should drive our focus in 2025. It's not a tool, a tactic, a channel, another acronym or new methodology someone wants you to pay for. It's trust. Simple, powerful, too often missing and elusive. It starts with trust between go-to-market teams inside your company. Trust that everyone is working towards the same business objectives. Trust in how decisions are made, priorities are ranked, jobs are done, refinements are identified and addressed. It's then prioritizing trust with our customers and prospects. Building and sustaining it. Not with pitch-slapping. Not with click rate tricks. Not with campaigns that pencil out on a spreadsheet but piss off your inundated and frustrated targets. Building trust takes time. That's why many companies haven't had the patience to do it well. Trust doesn't live in a spreadsheet. It's not in a chatbot or custom GPT. Trust lives in our hearts and minds. In your culture and marketplace, find ways to prioritize and operationalize trust. Not as a campaign, as an expectation and competitive differentiator.

“Don’t fix the CRM. Fix why no one believes in it.” I was in a pipeline review with a VP of Sales at a global B2B org. He said something that stuck with me: “We can’t forecast. No one trusts the CRM.” It wasn’t a UI issue. The CRM worked. The data was structured. The fields were populated. And yet, every forecast conversation happened in Excel or Slack. Here’s what was really going on: – Reps padded the pipeline to match inspection expectations – Managers tweaked close dates to fit narrative arcs – No one had a shared definition of “next step” or “commit” The CRM wasn’t broken. The culture around it was. If your team sees the CRM as a compliance tool instead of a performance tool, it will always be underused and distrusted. ✅ Here’s what we changed: – Standardized pipeline stages with crystal-clear exit criteria – Built dashboards that showed reps how every CRM entry tied directly to quota progress and commission outcomes. – Shifted forecast meetings to live-in-CRM reviews, not PowerPoint walk-throughs – Created a feedback loop for reps to challenge bad fields or logic Suddenly, usage improved. Forecasts stabilized. Reps trusted the system because they helped shape it. 🎯 Why this happens: – Ambiguity Aversion: If a field feels vague, reps disengage – Learned Helplessness: If reps see that nothing changes, they stop trying – Confirmation Bias: Leaders rely on gut feel even when data contradicts it Trust isn’t just about having the right tool. It’s about giving people a reason to believe that what they input leads to something meaningful. 📌 When trust breaks, systems become theater. Everyone plays their role. No one believes in the script. 💬 What’s one small change that helped your team believe in the data again? 📥 Follow me for more insights. Repost if this resonated.

83% of buyers dodge sales calls. And when teams still measure outreach success by calls booked, they miss a very important shift in B2B buyers’ mindset: Today's buyers don't avoid calls because they hate sales.  They avoid premature conversations with brands they don't trust. So, the real problem is not the goal to land as many calls as possible.  Conversion is and will be the end goal of any approach. But outreach shouldn’t focus on getting that call instead of building trust first. Think about it: → When was the last time you jumped on a call with a stranger trying to sell you something?  → When was the last time you reached out to an expert whose content helped you solve a problem? The difference is trust. Here's how to adapt your outreach for 2025: → Start with value-first touchpoints: ⎷ Share insights that help solve specific problems ⎷ Create educational content around common pain points ⎷ Engage with prospects' content before pitching ⎷ Build authority through thought leadership → Nurture before selling: ⎷ Focus on micro-conversions (content engagement, newsletter signups) ⎷ Track engagement signals instead of just call bookings ⎷ Build personalized nurture sequences based on interaction history ⎷ Let prospects choose their preferred way to connect The call shouldn't be your end goal.  It should be a natural next step when your buyers are ready to explore solutions. Because in B2B, trust is the new currency. And you can't rush trust with aggressive outreach. Do you prefer this model to the older playbooks? 

Too many people are still trying to “close deals” on LinkedIn like it’s 2010. They connect and immediately pitch, thinking volume equals value. But if you're still leading with a call-to-action before creating actual connection, you’re not selling. You’re repelling. What I’ve learned over the last two decades, across nearly a billion in ad spend and building relationships with everyone from Fortune 100 execs to solo founders, is this: 👉 People don’t convert because of your offer. They convert because of your energy. Trust isn’t built through a follow-up sequence. It’s built through how you show up when no one’s watching. It’s the thoughtful comment. The message that doesn’t ask for anything. The way you consistently share your lens, not just your product. At StandOut Authority, we don’t train people to pitch better, we teach them how to be seen more clearly. When you lead with relationship, value becomes inevitable. And when you show up human, you give others permission to do the same. I’ve had conversations that started with no agenda and turned into six-figure partnerships. Why? Because we let the connection lead the way, not the KPI. So if you’re feeling stuck trying to “sell more” on LinkedIn, maybe the answer isn’t a better script. Maybe it’s a better intention. The platforms may evolve, but the psychology of trust hasn’t changed. Selling today isn’t about tactics. It’s about timing, trust, and being real enough to matter. #SocialSelling #BusinessAdvice #Leadership  

The moment you outsource trust, your pipeline’s already screwed. Founders love shortcuts. The promise of “done-for-you” outbound sounds fantastic when juggling 10 things and leads are dry. But here’s the reality: Most of these services are selling volume, not outcomes. - They’ll flood your CRM with low-quality leads from scraped lists. - They’ll automate outreach that reads like spam. - And they’ll call 2% reply rates a win. I’ve seen it firsthand. Clients come in with a mess of bad data, zero segmentation, and no idea how things got that way. That’s not sales development. That’s gambling with your brand. Here’s what I tell founders: 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠… You’re not outsourcing outbound. You’re outsourcing risk. And when the pipeline’s cold again, guess who’s left holding the bag? I get it. Delegation is necessary. But delegation without control is chaos. This is why we build every system in-house, with the client in the loop. Control the inputs. Trust the process. Or keep betting on strangers to care more about your pipeline than you do.

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆. ↳ And in today’s market, it’s your brand’s most valuable asset. ↠ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗱. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁. ↳ Noise gets attention. ↳ Trust keeps it. Why brands fail? ↳ They focus on visibility, not credibility. ↳ Visibility fades fast. ↳ Trust compounds over time. ↠ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? ↳ It’s not just being honest. It’s being dependable. ↳ Trust = Consistency + Relevance + Empathy + Delivery ↳ If one breaks, trust breaks. ↠ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿? ↳ Trust is felt, before it’s measured. ↳ Clear promises ↳ Human tone ↳ Fast resolution ↳ Aligned actions across platforms ↠ 𝗠𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗔𝗹𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗶 ↳ A Saudi brand that sells more than dairy, it sells dependability. ↳ Predictable quality ↳ Local identity ↳ Decades of consistent storytelling That’s why people trust it without needing ads every week. ↠ 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁? ↳ Short-term tactics often destroy long-term loyalty. → Are your discounts replacing value? → Are your messages aligned with customer realities? → Are your teams empowered to deliver the promise? ↳ Fix the experience before scaling the story. ↠ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗗𝗼 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 ↳ They treat trust like a business objective. ↳ They audit trust at every touchpoint ↳ They train teams on values, not just skills ↳ They lead with meaning—not manipulation ↠ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗞𝗣𝗜, 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 ↳ Every interaction either builds or breaks belief. ↳ It’s not about more reach. It’s about earned loyalty per moment. 💡 𝗠𝗮𝘇𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 After 23 years in real estate, food and beverage, hospitality, and retail, I’ve learned this: Trust is the key strategy that protects your brand in a crisis, helps it grow in quiet times, and amplifies it when the spotlight is on. Without trust, you’re building on shaky ground. 💬 Let’s Talk What’s one recent action you’ve taken that built real trust with your audience? 🧠 Share below, we all learn from each other. ♻️ Repost if you found this helpful. Like | Comment | Share | Follow me for Daily Leadership Strategic Marketing Insights #TrustIsStrategy #SaudiMarketing #CMOInsights #BrandLoyalty #Vision2030 #MarketingLeadership #RealEstateMarketing #HospitalityStrategy #RetailGrowth #Lebanon