October 9th, 2019 / By: Tullio Siragusa / Published in: Blog, Traverse19, Tripactions
A compilation of views on what it means to build trust from interviews by Tullio Siragusa during Traverse 2019 Conference.
During TripActions’s TRAVERSE 19 conference, Tullio Siragusa had the opportunity to ask some representatives and principals of companies attending the event what they’re doing to build trust with employees and with their customers.
Tullio had been wondering why it was so difficult to find companies that would allow employees to speak to the press. Luckily, he did find some gems that very openly spoke about co-participating and co-creating their place in their respective verticals by talking about their companies and their culture, and specifically, how to build trust with customers, co-workers and employees.
So… join Tullio along for the ride and let’s see what he discovered!
Ask A Concierge
Tullio chatted with Sarah Dandashy, Founder of Ask A Concierge . After having worked in the hotel space for over 15 years, Sarah decided to go ‘beyond the desk’ and reach people that aren’t just at the hotel, but everywhere, and even globally. “As you can imagine, as a concierge, trust is of the utmost important for me, and when it comes to reaching my customers, my viewers, integrity is paramount, as is being genuine.” Sarah also highlighted the importance of being real and open with everybody, since she believes this indeed helps to build rock-solid trust.
TRVL Porter
Stephanie Nissen decided she would endeavor into creating TravelPort after having the bitter experience of losing her luggage. Coming from a fashion background, Stephanie discovered she could come up with a solution to provide a personalized wardrobe waiting for her at her destination to avoid these awkward situations. When asked about what was important for her during her journey building her company, Stephanie stated: “one of the most important things for me is sustainability, since our clothing options are rental.” Additionally, Stephanie highlighted the fact that she had realized that “reducing luggage also decreases CO2 sent out to the atmosphere, and that’s something we’re really passionate about at TRVL Porter.” When asked about what TRVL Porter did to build trust with their clients, Stephanie said that it was all about the personal touch. “We get to know your personal style and also your itinerary. We love that inner connection with our clients”, she concluded.
Appzen
Randy Figueroa, Director of Global Alliances at Appzen , also had the opportunity to talk about what building trust meant for him and his company. Tullio asked Randy to elaborate a bit about Appzen. Randy responded: “…in a nutshell, we use AI to help customers audit 100% of their spend before that spend occurs.” Asked to touch on the topic of building trust, Randy said that “When you walk around Appzen, you can clearly see that everyone at the office is excited to be there. It’s a fun culture that is focused around how to improve the customer experience and how to help them to minimize spend leakage. Our team’s overall well-being permeates all the way up to our customer, which indeed helps us to build trust amongst them. We look forward to the future,” Randy finalized.
Theorem
Allison Dean, VP of Operations for Theorem , an L.A.-based tech consultancy firm, also threw in her two cents on what building trust meant for her. She told Tullio that the way they built trust at Theorem amongst their employees and clients is all about continuous open and honest feedback. “We actually have an internal product to foster this called Honesto , which will hopefully be deploying throughout all the big companies of the world soon.” When asked to specify what she thought that helped Theorem build trust the most, Allison stated that “being connected and bonded was of the essence. This also helps to build not only the best technologies but the best companies.”
Chubbie Shorts
Finally, Tullio spoke with Elizabeth Abreu, Store Designer and Project Manager at Chubbies Shorts, men’s’ lifestyle brand based in San Francisco. He had the opportunity to ask Elizabeth what building trust meant for her and her company. “Trust and autonomy are key. We trust all of our teammates until proven unworthy or undeserving. We put the customer first and the company second. And if we are all operating in that manner, we’re all operating in that manner, then we’re doing the best job that we can,” Elizabeth concluded.