Your customers expect to be tricked (unfortunately). They have seen bait pricing. They have fought to cancel. They have waited on hold while a chatbot loops them around in circles. Regulators are reacting, and headlines keep coming. In this climate, trust is not a motto. Trust is operating leverage. It lowers fear in the first call. It speeds decisions. It cuts churn. It turns customers into references. Treat trust like currency, and you will win more with less noise.

Here’s my playbook for earning and keeping trust. It assumes that, at some point, the fan will get hit. When that happens, you tell the truth, ask for patience if you need time, honor your commitments, and go back to winning. That is how adults run companies.

What Changed This Year, And Why It Matters

The rules are shifting. Consumer protection has teeth again. The Federal Trade Commission is moving against junk fees in tickets and lodging. State laws are tightening the rules on auto-renewals. In the UK, new rules target drip pricing. Large platforms have faced pressure to remove dark patterns in their cancellation processes. Whether you sell software or …