Why We are in a Deep Trust Recession

“Mediocrity isn’t the point. Neither is perfection. The question is: what’s the best allocation of effort in order to delight our customers? We should be clear about which category we’re working in.” Seth Godin

Key Takeaways

• Pet consumers are far less trusting of professional providers causing a deep trust recession.

• The key to combating this loss of trust is honesty, transparency, and regular communication with your tribe.

• Creating a marketing strategy that’s radically different private equity firms and big box retailers attracts the trust-hungry clients you want to work with.

About 10 years ago, my Mac laptop kept going on the fritz. Every few weeks, I was in John’s Computers. Finally, John said, “Susan Vincent, you have been in my shop entirely too much!”

He took a look at my beloved laptop and said, “The problem is your workload is too big to handle for this small laptop. You need a desktop.”

Complete transparency. Trust builder. Customer for life.

But according to Forbes, that’s what we’re missing today. We have a deep trust recession. For the pet industry, it’s particularly thorny because both the pet space and the vet world are having opposite looking trust crises that actually rhyme underneath.

Weird, I know, but here’s what it looks like.

“Is this recommendation necessary or are you just upselling me?

The trust gap. How do I know I can trust my provider is working for me and not for the almighty dollar?

What makes this an interesting question is the data. It’s confounding. Consumer data from Boehringer Ingelheim in April 2025 showed that 94% of animal owners appreciate the veterinary profession.

But in practice? Not so much. Roughly three-quarters of veterinarians reported price-related hesitation from clients, with patient visits down nearly 2% year-over-year. (American Veterinary Medical Association).

That’s proof we’re in a deep trust recession. I believe that hesitation all comes down to a lack of education and consistent, real communication with your tribe.

This seismic shift is a huge wake up call for vets to change how they do business. "If you build it, they will come" no longer works.

Forrester Research, a major independent market research and advisory firm that publishes data and analysis on consumer behavior, marketing, and technology trends, found that consumers stay loyal to personal relationships and reward authenticity.

Consumers’ trust in faceless companies and institutions is degrading. They want an honest, transparent relationship with their vet. So how do you capture this pivotal moment and use it to your benefit?

Start with a newsletter. No, not the third-party email that’s all sales related. I’m talking an honest-to-God newsletter. (I created a sample that you can view on my Projects page.) Newsletters build a fence around your clients and increase revenue.

There are many more ways to carve out your own niche and increase revenue without worrying about having to sell out to a private equity firm. That’s just one idea.

The same is true for pet retail and food brands.

“Why is this brand better than mainstream brands?”

Vets get hammered on clients trusting their professional advice. Pet retailers deal with real skepticism about the ingredients in pet food. Prospects want to know why they are paying double or triple for a supposedly healthier food.

Pet parents are asking questions like:

• Where is this dog/cat food sourced?

• Where are the facility locations?

• What does human grade really mean?

Pet parents want proof of what’s actually in the food they are buying. They are tired of great sounding slogans that are just marketing gimmicks.

With the number of pet recalls and the misrepresentation of ingredient quality, pet parents are scrutinizing labels and looking for third party verification. That’s their trust currency. And that’s your advantage.

When was the last time Chewy or Amazon vetted the products they sell? (I think it was Smalls that recently had the owner of the company sit down and eat the human grade dog food on his plate. Now that's a commitment to quality.)

You don’t have to go to such extremes, but you should shout it from the rooftops that you have vetted your line of products and why. That is exactly what trust-recession buyers are searching for.

Build your own tribe. Start with a newsletter to gain trust, authority, and sales.

Answer client questions honestly and with transparency. Back it up with science and anecdotal stories. Show them you understand them and want the best for them in their price range.

• Offer a membership with perks

• Answer the hard questions

• Give valuable advice

• START A NEWSLETTER (Are you sensing a theme?)

The thing is, for both veterinary practices and pet retailers, it’s up to us to prove to our clients that they can trust us.

That’s how you beat back a deep trust recession. Stop playing by rules that were never meant for you. Listen to the market and give them what they're hungry for.

When you do that, trust-hungry clients will come looking for you.

Want to learn more about how to attract more trust-hungry clients? I'll give you my best tips in a free 30-minute chat.