Relationship marketing has been established as a valuable approach for use in business to consumer transactions. When utilized in e-commerce environments however, this approach seems to falter in light of the risk and uncertainty components inherent in electronically mediated exchange. The reluctance of a consumer to partake in an exchange with a business causes the possibility of a successful relationship to dwindle. In this paper the ifeblood model is proposed as a means to further understanding the power of trust in mitigating e-commerce communication exchanges. Practical applications of the model are also discussed.