Your Customers Don’t Trust You (And It’s Not Their Fault)

by Lisa Terrenzi

Competence

Company Competence Begins with Internal Trust (Reimagined)

Everyone talks about buyer trust—how to earn it, build it, protect it. But here’s the plot twist no one wants to admit:
You can’t create trust outside the company if you don’t have it inside the company.

Philosophers have said for centuries that a person who doesn’t trust themselves can’t expect others to trust them.
The same applies to a business. A company full of internal suspicion will always struggle to win over prospects and customers—no matter how slick the marketing is or how talented the sales team may be.

Where Trust Really Begins

The first job of building trust actually starts long before the salesperson picks up the phone.
  • Marketing sparks the interest—they create attention, curiosity, and leads.
  • Sales converts that interest—turning it into customers, revenue, and growth.
These are the two most vital divisions in any company. When they work together, it’s magic. When they don’t… well, it’s like a three-legged race where both people insist on running in opposite directions.

A Tale as Old as Business

If you’ve ever worked in a company, you’ve seen this movie:
Marketing proudly rolls out shiny new collateral—beautiful brochures, landing pages, a video with dramatic music.
Sales takes one look and says,
“Yeah… nobody’s buying because of this.”
Marketing fires back,
“Well, maybe try using it before blaming it.”
And the popcorn comes out.
Or here’s another classic:
Sales complains the leads aren’t high quality.
Marketing insists the leads are high quality—sales just isn’t closing them.
Both sides dig in deeper.
No one wins.

A Simple Fix (Seriously)

Here’s the wild part: the solution is not complicated.
It starts with willingness to communicate, something so basic it’s almost embarrassing.
  • Sales can tell marketing which leads are converting and why.
  • Marketing can track which lead sources actually increase sales—and strengthen those categories.
  • Instead of guessing, both sides can replace assumptions with data and dialogue.
One company we worked with solved this practically overnight. Marketing literally stationed one of their team members inside the sales department—desk and all. Within two weeks, they were swapping insights like teammates instead of rivals. Sales started asking for collateral before complaining about it. Marketing stopped creating things no one needed. Revenue went up. The tension went down. Miracles do happen.

Rifts Create Incompetence — Harmony Creates Trust

When marketing and sales are at odds, the entire process breaks down.
Internal distrust leads to external distrust.

But when the two work in harmony:
  • Marketing generates genuine interest
  • Sales confidently converts it
  • Prospects feel trust—not pressure
  • And the company demonstrates real competence
It’s visible. Measurable. And unforgettable.

Because a company that trusts itself becomes a company others want to trust.
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