Clarity over Clicks

0:00Welcome back to the Peggy Smedley Show, your voice for our connected world with your host Peggy Smedley. Hello, this is Jim, welcome to today's edition of the Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host Peggy Smedley, trust, clarity, and even credibility. Three words, every brand loves to put on a slide deck. Usually, I think right next to the stock photo of people laughing at a salad, think about it. So today on the Peggy Smedley Show, we're going to do something a little different. Maybe we're going to be talking about why trusted brands matter more than ever in, let's say, industries like construction and manufacturing. I think about it like this, let's be honest, there's a lot of noise out there.

1:00I always like to say it's smoke and mirrors. But some days it feels like trying to find a clear message is like trying to find a quiet spot on a job site during, let's say, demo day. But the way I'm thinking about it is what came to me is something that was very interesting. Shelly Armado posted something that made me stop and I guess I could say it even stopped me in my tracks. So let me read this to you and trust me, this message is pretty impressive. So here's what she said. Let me read it to you right now. She said clients aren't looking for more reports. They're looking for, and her exact words are clarity. Now I think she's right. So let that sink in right now. They're not looking for more reports. They're looking for clarity. Nobody wakes up in thinking, wow, I hope someone sends me this 200 page PDF today.

2:02That really brightened my morning, getting that report. No, I think people don't want more data. We've been talking about that. They want direction. They don't want more white papers. Not more reports. They just want clarity. They want meaning. They want someone to say, here's what matters, here's what doesn't, and here's what is really interesting. So ironically executives think they're not doing things great. But what are they doing great? So they're trying to figure out what matters most. So a report, again, numbers out, 90% of them believe customers trust their brand. Meanwhile, only 30% of those customers agree. Now that's not a gap. That's a plot twist. I think about that, 30% and it matters because when trust breaks, people walk quietly and

3:10quickly and usually while muttering, I'm not doing this again. That's what they're saying. And trust isn't a buzz word. We need to be thinking about this. This disconnect is not only a perception problem, it's also a significant sales problem. So roughly 40% if you think about this, of consumers tell PWC, they stop buying from a company because they didn't trust it and 89% of customers say they expect to end their relationship with a brand because it violates the trust. So trust is becoming a very important, I guess I would say, it's becoming as important as price and quality according to the seventh annual Edelman Trust Brometer Special Report. So as I think about this, some are even saying trust is as important as a factor when it comes

4:17to branding in particular. So think about that for a minute. So 60% of consumers say trust and transparency are the most important brand traits this past year. And this figure is increasing annually according to the CMS Wires 2025 CX Research Study. Now when we look at all these reports and I'm giving you all these numbers, here's the bottom line. Across all industries, research continues to show that trust directly influences what loyalty. All of our loyalty is based on that trust, that one that we always talk about, all the people we love, all the businesses we love, all those brands. Trust is no longer a nice exercise to try, right? We say let's try this trust exercise. It's a core, totally core to that brand's identity.

5:21So let's think about this. What does trust look like right now in 2026? It's a business strategy. Let's break that down even more when I think about this business strategy. First, it's transparency. So what you mean what you say, no corporate fog machines, it's not that second, I think it's consistency. If your message says one thing and your action say another, people notice, people talk, people screenshot, people record, vocalize negatively, that's it, that's what they're doing. Third, I think it's credibility. Thought leadership isn't a title, it's a track record and that brings me to something I know very well, thought leadership. Because here at Constructuck, I connect the world, even on this show, we've been doing

6:24things for decades and we take pride in that. And when you've covered a market this long, you've developed something AI can't generate and influencers can't download and that's context, context and more context. It's really understanding. You remember, as I say you, and we're talking about us, it's the hype cycles. You understand the hype and you've watched the bubbles inflate and then you watch them deflate like a sad birthday balloon, it really happens. You know which innovations delivered and which quietly tiptoed out the back door. You know the players, you know the cycles, you know the differences, let's say between a breakthrough and a buzzword. And most importantly, I think what I like to say is you smell hype from a mile away, even through a press release, that's really what happens.

7:27But let's zoom in because this isn't just a technology, this is about the people. Every day contractors step on to job sites. Every night they deserve to go home safely. I like to say this importantly because it's not a tagline. It's something that matters, safety matters. It's a responsibility and trust plays a role in the future of work too. Education is the best play, I think about it, for the next generation. It's such as something we're talking about, something we have to really mean. So we need the future of work to think critically, question assumptions and evaluate technology objectively, not just because it's a shiny new object or it's trending. So young professionals need to solve real problems.

8:29They need to challenge, not just download another app or scroll a little more and think it's really cool. So I guess when we look at all of this and that starts with trusting the information they're seeing and not just read it and believe it. So here's my message for today. Work with the creators who know the difference between incremental improvement and real disruption. For example, our team takes pride and this is what I like to say all the time in understanding the language of the industry, the pressures fading every day or even facing decision-makers and the historical challenges that technology is trying to solve. We've watched them, we've reported on them, we understand them and I always like to say we know where all the bodies are buried, we understand all those expressions.

9:29Most importantly, they are not chasing trends, they are interpreting them and that's really important. If you value clarity, support the brands that provide it, that's really important. If you want honest coverage, engage with the platforms that deliver it. That's very important. If you care about safety, innovation and the future of work, invest your attention and sources that have earned your trust, earned your trust, trust isn't built overnight. Don't just believe it, make them earn your trust. It's built through consistency and a lot of consistency, through transparency. Those are the ones that are constantly challenging the status quo. It's built through saying what needs to be said even when it's uncomfortable.

10:30They challenge things on a regular basis. I think here, like what we do on the Peggy Smedley show and it connected, we're all in a instruct act, we're going to keep doing exactly that. I pride myself on that and with my team because the question is, who's coming with us? I guess I want to leave you with this tip. Don't just consume content. It's easy to consume content because you don't know if it's fact or fiction. Evaluate the source. Ask yourself, who's been consistent? Who's covered the industries through the ups and the downs? Because you need to understand what those cyclical waves mean and how they're going to impact you. Who is educating, not just selling? You don't always want to be sold. You want to be educated. Who's willing to say the hard things when it matters because you want to know all those

11:32important things in a world filled with noise, not just a lot, a lot, some height, trust is competitive advantage and that's what you need to succeed and to be successful every year, every day, every month, all of those things. Align yourself at the brands that have earned it in everything you do. Not the voices that prioritize clarity over clicks. Remember that, clarity over clicks. Sometimes you just see lots of clicks, but does that really tell you anything? I had a question that because what we need in this world today is greater clarity, greater trust and absolutely greater credibility. So ask yourself, where do you want to be now and where do you want to be into the future? All right, listeners. I'm out of time for this first segment, share your thoughts with me on Exxon Connected World or follow me on LinkedIn or YouTube. And continue the conversation there. Please check out our website at connectadworld.com or show website at thepegyspedlyshow.com.

12:35Make sure to share and subscribe to our episode G-Tweet and everything else, pass the sun to all your friends. We want to get all the new subscribers we can. This is the Peggy Smedly Show, your voice for our Connected World. Remember, with great technology, that was great responsibility.