Trust is vital to any business’s success, but it doesn’t come overnight – you need to work hard for it. Here’s how.
By Craig Falck for Africa Report
Photograph: © Stephen Coburn | Dreamstime.com
Being able to trust someone you’re in business with is key. Where there is no trust, there cannot be success. Where there is trust between businesspeople, they are able to forget about immaterial worries and focus their minds on their business.
The easiest way to build trust is to keep your word. In a world where promises are made on a whim and very few are kept, it’s a breath of fresh air when you find someone who sticks to whatever he or she has promised. And you’d be surprised at how happy businesspeople are when they get what they’re promised. If a client needs a product by 5pm, make sure that they have it by 3pm.
Paying accounts on time is another area that can be focused on to build trust. A lot of businesses these days prolong their payments in order to manipulate their cash flows. If you’re required to settle an account on a particular date, make sure that you do so. If a supplier gets used to you paying on healthy terms, they might offer you discounts or even give you longer time frames to pay because they know they can trust you.
It’s important to build a good reputation in the business world and even more important to maintain it. By maintaining your business integrity, you show clients, partners and suppliers that you and your enterprise are committed to honesty and professionalism, regardless of the task. By delivering flawlessly and professionally time after time, you will quickly develop a positive reputation and people will recommend you with a smile on their face. And we all know how fast word of mouth travels.
Being involved at all times is important to cultivate trust with your team. You don’t want to be seen as the fat cat sitting in the office afraid to get your hands dirty. Visit each station in the production process, hold meetings and discussions, listen to your workers and show that they’re important to you. If your team trusts you, you can get the best from them and add to the good reputation of your enterprise in the process.
The last trust-building method we’ll look at is the cheapest: listen. If you listen to your staff, your clients, and your partners, you create a sense of trust because you show an interest in what’s being said to you and what’s being asked of you. If you pull an “in one ear, out the other”, no one will trust you. It’s that simple. They won’t tell you things because you give the impression that you just don’t care, even if that’s not the case.
Trust is at the heart of any business’s success. No trust means no road forward. Do not overlook the importance of trust in the workplace and with clients. It’ll save your business.
