Historically, business has not been very big on the whole “trust” concept. They didn’t need to worry about it, as the only information customers knew was what the company told them. The internet and social media have changed all that, and a generation is growing up that favors trust over almost all other factors. Now, a lapse in trust can cost a business millions.

“Measuring trust is exceptionally important,” said Tanya Seajay (pictured), founder and chief executive officer at Orenda Software Solutions Inc.

Seajay spoke to John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile live-streaming studio, during the IBM InterConnect conference in Las Vegas, NV. (*Disclosure below.)

Trust, community and knowing why

A recent survey, called the Edelman Trust Barometer, found there is a trust crisis across the world, Seajay pointed out. Global faith in business, governments and other institutions is suffering a sharp decline. However, another survey showed there is also a growing “trust economy,” meaning while people distrust in general, they also want to know if they can trust a company, its CEO, or the company’s purpose.

Social good is becoming more important, both to customers and to companies, Seajay explained. This means giving back to the community. Companies want that connection because the community is where they do business. A smart company will want to improve business by doing things that are good for their communities.

Businesses have reason to consider their image. As an example, Seajay pointed out that while Orenda was following a number of big banks in Canada, an article came out that was extremely negative of the banks. Watching in real-time, Orenda could see the bank’s losing the community’s trust, and likewise, losing points off their stock prices. For their brands, trust was a serious issue.

Seajay described what’s unique about how Orenda measures trust. They put in a whole new filter using social science. This doesn’t just give them positive or negative information, but also insights into what caused the change. Knowing why means the company can do something about it.

“You get to focus on what the actual problem is,” Seajay said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM InterConnect 2017. (*Disclosure: SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE is a media partner at InterConnect. Neither IBM nor other conference sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE