How to share bad news and still look good

Last weekend we headed to our local farmers’ market.

(Where I get seduced into shelling out 5x the usual amount for a brownie because it’s ‘organic and locally sourced’.)

But one stall selling sugar, dairy and egg free cakes really stood out.

On their banner they proudly shouted:

‘Not disgusting!’

‘Surprisingly good!’

‘Actually not that bad!’

Funny, right?

I did end up tasting a bit of cake and they were right – it was surprisingly good.

And it reminded me of a range of studies that show if we:

1. Mention a potential drawback in our product or service early on in conversations

   
   

2. Follow it immediately by more favourable features

…then we can increase trust with people.  By being up front about negatives, people think we’re more likely to be honest about the positives too.

So if there’s a problem with your product, a delay with your project or the dog ate your homework, don’t delay mentioning if you want to build trust.

Just make sure you follow it with good stuff too.  (Like cake.)