You know your brand through and through. You probably wouldn’t work for your company if you didn’t believe it was a quality, trustworthy organization with valuable offerings for customers. In that sense, you’re similar to most leaders we surveyed—nearly 80% of whom think their customers have somewhat or very high trust in their company’s brand.

When consumers talk about the trust they feel for brands, it’s probable that they aren’t thinking specifically about your brand, but even for the most trusted brands, there are usually opportunities for improvement.

Our research shows that brand leaders and consumers are generally aligned on the importance of trust. However, there is significant misalignment when it to comes to how (and how well) trust is actually fostered. While the art of building trust can be complex, many brands struggle with a basic disconnect between what they value and what they deliver—that is, between their intent and their competence.

Trust matters to your company’s bottom line over both the short and long terms. There’s massive upside for brands that get it right.

But beware: Brands that violate trust both miss that benefit and lose customers and revenues—creating, in essence, a potential double-downside.

Our research reveals multiple disconnects between what business leaders and consumers perceive about the mechanics and realities of trust. It also reveals significant headroom even for consumers’ most trusted brands to improve their performance in ways that deepen trust. To get there, it’s important to connect your brand’s intentions with its actions across the four trust signals.