Opinion - the Bluedge blog
Basic Instincts
Posted by Jayne Espley, March 2008
Last time we were talking about different types of trust; how the quality of the trust that exists between you and your client can dictate the quality of the relationship that you’re then able to build.
Just to re-cap, we mentioned that the types of trust that place you in the highest esteem, from your client’s perspective, are ‘reciprocal’ trust and ‘earned’ trust. This is one of the key aspects within your business relationships upon which you can base a collaborative partnership between you and your customers. Working together as part of a team in this way (okay, let’s call it a ‘virtual’ team because you work for different companies and in different places but, nonetheless, team spirit is what pervades the atmosphere between you and working, to a large extent, in each other’s interests provides a common link and a common goal) protects your long-term profitability. But what you have to make sure about, even if you’ve created the right types of trust between you is that you then create the right quality of dialogue to support and strengthen it. Go with your instincts on this one; you know the sort of information, ideas and solutions your client’s looking for…ensure that what you provide is relevant and appropriate. This will ensure that time spent with your clients is perceived as valuable and worthwhile investment.
The more you reduce the risks your client has to take, the more you increase his or her commitment to you.
So, what we’d like to talk about this time round is the factors that influence and build trust.
Some of them are ‘givens’; the basic competencies you need, to be in the business you’re in anyway. These include, for example, your skill, competence and expertise at what you do, your industry or product knowledge, the established quality of your product or service and industry focus ie the extent to which your company is focused on the market in which you operate. The challenge is that characteristics such as these are expected; demonstration of them simply creates a level playing field between you and your competitors. Like it or not, we’re in a market that has a high degree of commoditisation, so finding a point of difference is what gets you noticed or, to be more precise, is what gets you business.
If we can leave you with one clear idea to ponder from this blog it’s that in the building of a committed relationship, trust is critical and of the many factors that contribute to building trust the most highly valued is integrity.
In our last blog we discussed the notion of aspiring to become TRUSTED PARTNER. This time around, why don’t you think about integrity, what it is, what it means and what it means to your business.
Thought for this blog then…
INTEGRITY BUILDS BUSINESS.
In our next blog we’ll take a look at other factors in building trust and how you can use them to create a point of difference for your business.
