Trust Builds Confidence
The single most important thing you can do in starting and building a business is to get people to trust you. Trust needs to be earned and takes time, although you can lose it in a second. Telling people to trust you doesn’t cut it. In fact, when people I just meet tell me to trust them, my antennae is up to watch my back.
The benefits of being trusted are enormous. People have confidence in those they trust. Confidence leads to wanting to do business with you. Employees want to work for trustworthy bosses and are more highly motivated when they do. Customers are more likely to write orders for sales people they trust. Investors and lenders will not write the check to anyone they suspect is not high on the trustworthy ladder. A great deal of their due diligence is in finding out your trust score. And in my opinion, the most important thing about being trusted is that you live a better life. The only way to teach your children about trust is to set the example for them.
You should always do the right thing. Most people know right from wrong but are compromised when money is at stake. Many people differ on what is right or wrong in a business situation. It takes lots of little things and time to build trust. Some people never even think about it as they instinctively do the right thing. Here are 10 specific trust building ideas to get you thinking in the right direction. There are many, many more.
10 Tips to Build Better Trust in Your Business
- Listen to people you deal with.
- Admit mistakes right away.
- Pay bills on time. If you can’t, call and tell why and when you will pay. Give a date you can meet or beat.
- Acknowledge what you don’t know. Don’t BS.
- Don’t duck or procrastinate dealing with a problem.
- Demand quality.
- Don’t over promise.
- Move quickly to correct mistakes no matter the cost.
- Keep your promises.
- Never betray confidential information.
Bootstrapping 101 lists 38 trust building ideas.
Also, remember trust is portable. Wherever you go, it follows you: good or bad.
