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The movie Jerry Maguire featured Tom Cruise as the struggling sports agent trying to succeed with his client, Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. Their best remembered telephone shouting match line "show me the money" still resonates today. However, the plot of the movie holds additional relevance for today's businesses who should be focusing more on "show me the trust" to capitalize on the extraordinary growth of online social media.

Customers First
Jerry Maguire's mission was to establish a new found honesty and trust in the relationships between sports agents and their super star athlete clients. In the world of social media, businesses often confuse the mission of earning the trust of their customers with the innovation and glitter of online technologies that deliver the messaging. The journey to ‘show me the trust' has to be about knowing the customer first, and then engaging the social media vehicles best suited to capitalize on this customer knowledge.

The Simple Truth
The simple truth is that money follows trust. So how can a company best build trust with their customers using social media? Start by taking a thorough look at: (1) how the best customer segments are using social media; (2) what are they talking about and how do they talk to each other; and (3) how, and when, can the company best interject itself into the conversation with credibility and relevance.

The Mayo Clinic
One of the better social media examples of this approach is the Mayo Clinic's use of Facebook. While many businesses risk appearing on Facebook as static translations of their messaging in traditional media, the Mayo Clinic integrates its presence to fit the Facebook communication culture. It recognizes and facilitates the needs of its customers, or in this case its patients, to connect with each other on both an experiential and deeper emotional level. For example, patients can talk about their total colonoscopy experience: the doctor and patient interactions, the nurses, the administrative staff, information about the procedure, and the critically important emotional concerns that weave throughout the dialogs.

Through the use of physician podcasts, the Mayo Clinic doctors are introduced into the patient conversations in a way that empowers their patients with information that they can access at their convenience. The Mayo Clinic enables its patients by providing a community to share and build relationships of their choosing, and as a result, transcends being an "institution" to become a welcomed and trusted partner in their customers' lives.

Watch Obama
We've already witnessed the power of Web 2.0 prowess in that it arguably played a significant role in electing our newest President. What role will it play in your business? Whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, iPhone Apps, MySpace or blogging, among the many options, social media is changing the way people communicate with each other, and by necessity, the way business needs to evolve to keep pace.

"You complete me" could be the best Jerry Maguire line when it comes to the relationships businesses want to achieve with their customers. Show your customers the trust, and they will show you the money.