If you believe trust is built in the pitch, I hate to say it, but you’re already too late.
One of the common myths in professional services (and wider B2B) marketing is that the buying process is where trust is created. We refine the pitch deck. We rehearse the chemistry meeting. We perfect the proposal. We treat the moment of sale as the moment of persuasion.
But in researching our recent report: Findability, credibility and the news rules of visibility, one message was consistent:
By the time buyers formally engage, they have already decided who feels credible.
Research from 6Sense suggests buyers are 69% of the way through their decision-making process before they ever contact a firm. In 81% of cases, they already have a preferred provider in mind.
The pitch doesn’t build trust. It confirms it.
That trust is formed quietly and cumulatively. Through repeated exposure to thinking. Through peer recommendation. Through tone, judgement, and clarity long before an RFP appears.
And buyers aren’t simply evaluating capability. They are managing risk – professional, reputational, and sometimes personal. As one Chief People Officer told me, appointing a consultancy can feel like “an extension of your credibility.”
That emotional reality changes a lot of things.
When buyers enter a process, they’re not starting from neutral. They’re validating an instinct. They’re looking for reassurance that the firm they already feel comfortable with won’t let them down.
This is why episodic visibility doesn’t work anymore.
Trust doesn’t spike when campaigns spike. It accumulates when no one is buying.
It is built in the months when nothing appears to be happening. In the consistent sharing of useful thinking. In the clarity of positioning. In the absence of gimmicks.
For senior marketers, this reframes the job.
The question is no longer: “How do we win the pitch?”
It is: “How do we ensure we feel credible long before the pitch ever happens?”
Because at the point of sale, trust isn’t built.
It’s recognised.
