Building Trust – A Case Study

Let me share with you my experience with my new wine supplier Robert, as I think it is good example on how to build trust in a business relationship.

A few months ago I went to a wine tasting. On one of the stands, Robert was offering his wines for tasting, eagerly praising his wines and I start thinking ‘another big sales talk’. Anyway, we kept on talking and I shared with him my taste for wine and he immediately could recommend me a wine which would suit my taste buds. (Competence) The wine turned out to be good and competitively priced (Quality at a fair price) and I purchased. Then I asked him for a recommendation on a white wine. He was spot on with his recommendation, the wine was reasonably priced and I bought. (Competence / Fair price)

Robert’s way of promotion is to email wine offers accompanied by ratings given by famous wine ‘gurus’ and personal tasting notes. So, I kept on buying a few more times. Recommendations of the wines were always spot on. The wines tasted as promised, no overselling and the delivery service was always as promised. (Reliability)

Recently, I purchased another batch of wine of a certain vintage (For non wine drinkers, the vintage is the year in which the grapes were harvested. And for the same wine, the vintage of one year can taste quite a bit different compared to the next year) The wine I ordered was of vintage 2007, however, due to a mistake made by the supplier vintage 2008 was shipped to Singapore. Before I go on, let me also mention that a few years ago I was purchasing wine from another wine shop. I sampled a certain wine and then ordered 2 cases. The wine delivered was of a different vintage than the sampled one and when I complained I received a lame comment ‘Oh, is it? Well, if you insist you can bring it back.’ Robert handled the situation differently. He emailed his customers, informing us about the delivery of the wrong vintage. He gave us three options. We could cancel the order completely or accept the same quantity or lower quantity of the ’wrong’ vintage at a lower price. (Honesty, even if it hurts)

And the final experience that won me over. I got a batch of wine, but the first two bottles just tasted bad to me. I gave Robert some feedback. He offered me immediately to exchange the complete consignment for another wine that I like more. No questions asked. He trusted my judgement without any doubt. (Trust in others judgement)

In summary, what contributes to building trust?

- Competence - in the field where you want to be trusted
- Fairness – Any deal should be considered fair by both parties
- Reliability – Dependable at all times
- Admitting mistakes and apologizing and find a way to rectify it
- Honesty – Even if it hurts current own interest
- Trust others judgment

Just in case you also like good wines here is his contact - robert@wineexchangeasia.com