As is often the case, one of Seth Godin’s blogs of the day has me thinking about my own notions of Employee Benefit marketing.  http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Seth talks about two aspects of a sales transaction.  Is the item to be bought or sold.

The basic premise of Trusted Source Marketing is the employer or other Trusted Source endeavors to create access to products and services of good value to their employees or other constituency.  Not with the idea of “selling” something or even having someone “buy” but with the intent to bring value.  The intent to assure the audience that someone who is trusted has done the work necessary to assure the quality of the company, the service, or the product so that we can buy with confidence.

This can extend to the selling of these services too.  Once the “due diligence” is accomplished employees can then engage the sales agent with the confidence that they can explore the options that best suit their individual situation without worry.  No worries that they will be encouraged to waste their money.  No worries that the product or the company can’t really be trusted.

Yes buying and selling may be the bottom line but the transactions can be done with confidence if the Trusted Source does what is necessary to be trustworthy.  And once a product or service is made available it is necessary to continue to carry the message of its availability and its use by others to encourage those who might need it to get it.