If there’s one thing I’ve learned from a couple decades of building businesses—from manufacturing electric signs in my early twenties to running a fintech platform that helps small business owners manage their credit—it’s that trust is the currency that matters most.

And trust starts with truly knowing your customer: not just what they buy, but who they are, what keeps them up at night, and what they need from you that they can’t get anywhere else.

I started out with a beat-up pickup and a boom truck, hustling for jobs in an industry where everyone was at least 30 years older than me. Back then, getting a customer’s trust was as much about showing up as it was about doing a good job.

I was young, green, and in a world where relationships mattered. Some customers would throw me a bone—let me fix a sign, see if I could handle it. If I did, maybe they’d trust me to build or install one next time. But that first job always came down to trust: if you don’t have it, you don’t get the business.

Looking back, those early days taught me the fundamentals of customer trust. It’s a relationship, person to person. You have to earn it, and you do that by being reliable, honest, and present. If you want to know your customer, you have to be willing to listen, to show up, and to care about their problems as much as your own.

As my businesses grew, the stakes got higher. I ran a financial services business for Spanish speakers, selling insurance, tax prep, and mortgages. That was still a face-to-face business. It’s a lot easier for someone to trust you with their Social Security number when they’re sitting across from you in a respectable office, sipping free coffee, maybe referred by a friend. They know you’re real. You’re part of their community.

But as the world shifted online, everything changed. At Nav, most of our customers will never know my name or care what it is. Yet we’re asking for their Social Security number, EIN number, asking them to connect their checking accounts, trust our recommendations on loans and credit cards—decisions that could mean tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

The stakes are higher, and the opportunities for trust are fewer. In a digital world full of scams and fraud, earning trust is more important—and more difficult—than ever.

So how do you get to know your customer when you can’t look them in the eye? When you can’t hand them a coffee or shake their hand? You have to find new ways to be real.

At Nav, we give small business owners free access to the data lenders use to judge them—personal and business credit scores, cash flow analysis. We don’t just provide data; we help them understand it and improve their profiles. We use our love for data to make recommendations that save them time and money, sometimes even doing the hard stuff for them.

Another way is to be present online. These days, if someone hears about your business, the first thing they do is Google you or check LinkedIn to see if you’re legit. That means your online presence—your articles, your reputation, your reviews—matters as much as any handshake ever did.

If people see you’re regularly producing content, being quoted by trusted outlets, and sharing your expertise, it builds credibility. It’s the digital version of being “belly-to-belly”—showing up in the modern village square.

Getting to know your customer isn’t just about what you say—it’s about what you hear. Some of the best feedback I’ve ever gotten came from listening in on customer calls or reading their suggestions.

We’ve had customers tell us we need to do a better job showing what the average Nav customer is like, what they go through. That’s gold. If you want to know your customer, you have to be humble enough to listen and adapt.

People can smell bull**** a mile away, especially small business owners. They’re used to being sold to, used to people overpromising and underdelivering. If you want to build trust, you have to show up as your authentic self.

That means being honest about what you can and can’t do, owning your mistakes, and being willing to say “I don’t know” when you don’t have the answer. I’ve learned that customers don’t expect perfection. They expect honesty and effort. If you’re real with them, they’ll be real with you.

• Show up and listen. Whether it’s in person or online, be present and pay attention to what your customers are actually saying.
• Be transparent. Give your customers the information they need and help them understand it.
• Build credibility. Establish your presence in the places your customers look for trust signals—online reviews, articles, social media.
• Adapt and evolve. The way you build trust will change as your business grows and the world changes. Stay humble and keep learning.
• Be authentic. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Customers value honesty over polish every time.

Getting to know your customer isn’t a one-and-done task. It’s a lifelong commitment to listening, learning, and earning trust. In my experience, it’s the only way to build a business that lasts.