Welcome to Break Point, your weekly hit of strategy, surf, and smart growth.

Each week, we send one high-impact growth move straight from the Pono Ventures playbook — and only Break Point readers get the goods.

Let’s drop in. 🌊

Why Trust Is Your Biggest B2B Growth Lever (And How to Build It)

In B2B, logic might win the contract, but trust gets you in the room.

Most B2B buyers aren’t just buying a product.

They’re betting their reputation, team performance, and sometimes their career on your solution.

If they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you even if your offer is cheaper or more feature-rich.

So how do you build trust in a market that’s crowded with big claims, shady sales tactics, and inboxes full of noise?

Here are four old school practices that never fail:

✅ Be radically transparent

If something isn’t a fit, say so. If there are tradeoffs, mention them. Clients remember the advisor who helped them not make a bad call.

✅ Make it personal

People buy from people. Show your face. Use your voice. Get on a plane. Send personalized videos. Build human connection early and often.

✅ Lead with value

Send the insight before the pitch. Share something that actually helps them today whether or not they buy. That flips the dynamic from seller to trusted advisor.

✅ Be consistent

Trust is lost when you ghost, overpromise, or wobble. Be the person who shows up, follows through, and does what they say.

Most B2B teams are trying to outsmart the competition.

The best ones? They out-trust them.

Want to talk marketing with the Pono team?

Book a call with one of our founders! We do four strategy sessions a week helping companies beat their growth targets (no strings attached).

Weekly Beach Vibes

In life, pono stands for righteousness and balance. In Hawaiian, if a person is living pono, it means that they have struck the right balance in their relationships with other things, places, and people in their lives. It also means that they've made a conscious decision to do right by themselves, by others, and by the world in general.

We live by Pono.