16 ways to prove to your customers that your proposals are trustworthy

Everybody thinks they are trustworthy. And yet obviously, some of us are not.

Even if you brand yourself as a “trustworthy partner” or a “trustworthy advisor” in all your materials, the first thing that half of the people who see or hear that are going to say to themselves is “how do I know that’s true?” All those people have doubt and you just made them question whether they can trust you. You can't simply claim to be trustworthy.

When we meet in person, trust has to be earned. But there are many ways to achieve this and we can start with small things. In writing, trust has to be proven. When trustworthiness is not proven, it can backfire.

Here are 16 ways to earn trust in writing by proving that you are trustworthy:

1. If you claim that you can do something, prove that the way you do that it is credible.
2. If you say that you will accomplish something, then prove that you have accomplished similar things in the past.
3. If you say you are better, then prove that you get better results.
4. If you want them to believe you can overcome the challenges, then prove you know what the challenges are, have overcome them in the past, and have an approach that will mitigate the risks in the future.
5. If you want them to believe you, provide testimonials from others.
6. If you want them to feel safe, give them a way out.
7. If you want them to believe you are reliable, then prove that you show up and get the job done every time.
8. If you have never done the exact same thing before, prove that you have done all the parts separately and that you have done things of similar size, scope, and complexity in the past.
9. If you want them to believe you have good judgment, prove it by explaining why you do things the way you do and why you make the inevitable trade-offs the way that you do.
10. If you claim you are capable, prove that you are qualified, have done it before, and have the resources required.
11. If you want people to believe that you deliver better quality, then prove that you know what it is and how to deliver it.
12. If you claim that something is your top priority, prove that you stick to it no matter what the cost.
13. If you claim that you have experience, prove why that matters.
14. If you say you will do a project, prove that you know what it will take.
15. If you say you will fulfill a customer’s requirements, then define what that means, prove that you have done it before, and prove that you will do everything on the list.
16. If you want people to trust you, prove that you won’t let them down when things get rough.

If you found yourself trying to slide by any one of these by being convincing instead of proving, then you might not really be trustworthy. If you found yourself engaging your empathy to better understand what the customer needs in order to trust what you say, then you probably are trustworthy. Or a psychopath. But being trustworthy starts with understanding what it means from the perspective of the person doing the trusting.

Give yourself a point for each one you do prove. How many points will it take to convince your next customer that you are trustworthy? Never mind your total, ask yourself why don’t you have a perfect score and what will it take to earn one. If you do have a perfect score, are you sure? We all have bad days, sometimes things go wrong, sometimes we face trade-offs, and sometimes we make compromises. Each one is an opportunity to improve our people, processes, and tools so that we are even more trustworthy in the future.

When marketing to your potential clients, remember to never simply claim. Never simply describe. Start from proof points and then explain why. What works in person can fail terribly in written communication. What works in a brochure can fail terribly in a proposal.

Don’t expect people to believe what you say when it’s in writing, unless you prove it. In writing, people scrutinize, compare, consider, and process things differently. Unsubstantiated claims of any kind will make your trustworthiness questionable, and you may never get the chance to prove that you really are trustworthy.