In the last 10 years I’ve spoken with about 500 senior buying decision-makers of business products and services. They’re a tough bunch, and they have to be because they live on the hot seat every day. They’ve got to trust someone to support their business, and they’re on the hook for that decision. Literally. Selling products and services to this target is a daunting, complicated, time-consuming task. The more you understand the customer mindset, and how you—your offering and your brand—help them succeed—and avoid harm—the better your chances of breaking through. B2B marketers can use the model in this presentation to develop an understanding of how to build trust in their brand and increase relevance to customers.

1. The 4 Ps Of B2B Brand Trust

2. The Source
§ Over 500 in-depth interviews
§ Senior people; buyers and influencers
§ Technology, healthcare, financial services,
telecom, media, u@li@es
§ From this came an intui@ve model to drive B2B
brand strategy
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3. The Founda6on
§ Business people are people.
§ B2B buying decisions are ra@onal and emo@onal.
§ B2B buying is a considered purchase with far-
reaching personal implica@ons.
§ Trust is everything.
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4. 4 Ps Of B2B Brand Trust
Persistence
Performance
Percussion
Percep@on
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5. Persistence
§ Do you have what it takes to go all the way?
§ Will you be around to service what you’ve sold?
§ What is your financial situa@on?
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6. Performance
§ Is your thing different or bePer?
§ Can you help big companies get bigger or small
companies disrupt their categories?
§ Is your value or pricing model compelling?
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7. Percussion
§ What impact have you, or can you, make on the
business?
§ Will you improve opera@onal efficiencies or
financial performance?
§ Can you drive agility or innova@on?
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8. Percep6on
§ Do you envision a bePer world for your
customers, employees, everyone?
§ Does your percep@on of the future go beyond
your product or service?
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9. Brand Trust Model
9
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percep@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

10. IBM: Mature
10
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature
§ Persistence: No one
gets fired for buying
IBM
§ Performance:
Product/service
parity
§ Percussion: Global
impact
§ Percep@on: Smarter
Planet

11. Ericsson: Mature
11
§ Persistence: Every
global carrier
§ Performance:
Product/service
parity
§ Percussion: Connects
everything
§ Percep@on: 50 billion
connected devices
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

12. Pure Storage: Growth
12
§ Persistence: Global
200 customers
§ Performance: High-
performance storage
§ Percussion:
Extrac@ng value
from big data
§ Percep@on: The all-
flash data center
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

13. Violin Memory: Growth
13
§ Persistence: Fortune
500 customers
§ Performance: High-
performance, low
price
§ Percussion: CIO as
hero
§ Percep@on: All-flash
data center
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

14. Granular: Startup
14
§ Persistence: Top-@er
VC backing
§ Performance:
Breakthrough
produc@vity
§ Percussion: Data-
driven farming
§ Percep@on: Feed the
world efficiently
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

15. Quisk: Startup
15
§ Persistence: Global
bank partnerships
§ Performance: Mobile
phone banking
§ Percussion: New
wave of economic
growth
§ Percep@on: Banking
for the un-banked
0
10
20
30
40
Percussion
Percpe@on
Performance
Persistence
Startup Growth Mature

16. What It Means
§ Understanding your brand’s rela@ve standing is
the founda@on for building strategy.
§ Transparency on the Four Ps is essen@al to
differen@a@on, reputa@on and trustworthiness.
§ Every B2B brand can be trustworthy.
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17. The BoFomline
§ As brands transit from infancy to maturity you
must ac@vely manage the Four Ps.
§ Trustworthiness is essen@al to aPrac@ng
investment, employees and customers.
§ Crea@ng and building brand trust is a never-
ending journey.
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18. For more informa@on, please contact Greg Sieck
at greg@sieckgrowth.com or call (415)-717-4460.