As an insurance agent, it is important to gain the trust of your customers. The community comes to your local agency for help, support, and affordable costs. Therefore, in order to keep them coming back, you need to establish a friendly and honest relationship with each person, reassuring them that you have their best interests in mind.

According to Social Media Today, once trust is broken, it takes time and evidence to repair the damage. Therefore, always behaving in an honest manner will create the foundations on which relationships are built in friendship and in business. The dynamics of trust is a topic studied by Edelman’s TrustBarometer. The 2012 edition measures attitudes about the state of trust in business, government, NGOs, and media across 25 countries. The data found that customers no longer look to executive leadership for vision and facts. Instead, they look to social media, peer-peer information, and expert points of view as trustworthy sources.

The Edelman report also looks at societal attributes that build trust over time. The study discovered that there are a few key elements that facilitate organizational trust:

• Listens to customer needs and feedback
• Places customers ahead of profits
• Takes actions to address issues or crisis
• Communicates frequently and honestly

Establishing and maintaining trusted relationships is the key to unlocking making your business a success. Online communities are crucial for building trusted relationships and engaging with customers and employees. Therefore, by strengthening your insurance social networking strategy, you can take action on expressed issues and needs, explore innovative experiences, and engage your audiences, resulting in trust in your agency!