Almost three months ago, when restrictions due to the coronavirus began rolling out across Australia, panic-buying ensued. The CEO of one of our supermarket chains began writing a weekly email newsletter to customers in response.

In it, he addressed customers’ genuine concerns about the availability of everything from flour to toilet paper. He gave people insights into stock levels and sales comparisons from the previous year. And he reassured customers by explaining the health and safety measures the company was implementing for staff and customers.

The email was informative, reassuring and welcome. It built trust and connection with the previously faceless leadership of the organisation.

As panic-buying eased and consumer buying patterns began returning to normal, the CEO announced that he would stop sending his weekly email. What a missed opportunity to nurture the trust he’d earned with his customers in challenging times.

Trust is our scarcest resource. We should treat it as such and do all we can to earn and nurture it.

*Yes, I did contact the CEO, encouraging him to keep writing. And he decided to continue. Maybe mine wasn’t the only email he got that day.

Image by Jarred Ray