Why building trust counts

On July 9, 2023, a storm dropped more than 7 inches of rain in six hours on parts of New York State, creating 1,000-year flood conditions. The airports serving New York City grounded all westbound flights, including one to Minneapolis that had already taxied from the gate. On board, a father was trying to get his daughters to what could be a final visit with their critically ill grandmother. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to depart that day. But what followed demonstrated a core value that companies ignore at their peril: trust. Companies that are building trust—not only with their customers, but also with their workforce, partners, and other stakeholders—can reap huge dividends. 

Even though the stranded father couldn’t fly on the day of the storm, a ticket agent who heard his story bent the rules to not only get him and his daughters out on the next available flight but also to change their return flight so they could have more time with grandma. For the family, who had expected a delay of days, it felt like a win.

According to Ashley Reichheld, a principal at Deloitte Digital and author of The Four Factors of Trust: How Organizations Can Earn Lifelong Loyalty (Wiley, 2022), such interactions are the result of workers trusted by their companies to independently make decisions to benefit—and earn the trust of—customers. “They took a scenario where ultimately passengers are going to walk away unhappy, and they made an even more loyal customer,” Reichheld says. “That's impressive.”