Jan Quintrall:Want to build a successful business? First, build trust
“He told me the touch-up crew would be here on Monday. I took the morning off, and once again, they didn’t show up. I do not trust anything he says to me anymore. This is the third time they have failed to show up.”
“When the company inspected our house, they red-tagged the furnace! He said our heat exchanger was cracked and shut it off. We called a couple of heating contractors to get a bid on replacement, and guess what? Neither of them found a cracked heat exchanger! Don’t ever hire a home inspector who also sells furnaces because they can’t be trusted!”
“I have lost count of the times my boss has promised me additional resources so we can get our jobs done on time. Instead, she continues to criticize me and my team. She never comes through on her part of the deal. Now she is asking me for another resource proposal. I don’t even want to bother doing it; I can’t trust that anything will come of it.”
Common problems with a common cause. Trust is gone or broken, making it difficult to move forward. Did you know that more sales are lost due to lack of trust than any other factor? Did you know that more employees leave their workplace due to trust-related issues than to money-related issues? The majority of complaints we handle each day contain a breach of trust or communication that has eroded trust.
Business people, your relationship begins before your customer ever steps foot in your store, calls you for service, or places an item in his or her online shopping basket. Your relationship begins with every advertisement you place and every action your staff takes when they are wearing your company’s logo shirt or driving your delivery van.
There are some easy ways to start with trust in all our relationships beyond simply telling the truth. John Stewart, Ph.D., and John Caputo, Ph.D., recently held training at Gonzaga University on communications that build trust. I sent a couple of my staff members and they shared the list:
Spontaneity — We all know those who measure every word and we often wonder what the heck they are trying NOT to say. You can be kind and direct at the same time, but it is nearly impossible to speak openly when driven by hidden agendas and selfish motivations.
Equality — Speaking from a position that is inferior or superior is no way to start a trusting dialogue.
Description — Stick to the Joe Friday method of “Just the Facts Ma’am,” without personal opinions or labels of good and bad. Nothing shuts down another person faster than critique.
Problem orientation — Let go of control and truly collaborate, meaning that it matters not who gets the credit, the goal is to solve the issue, move the program forward or build a project, period.
Provisionalism — Nothing is set in stone, and opening up to possibilities will open up trusting communications. You do not always have to be right, nor do you have to always win. Openness is critical to trusting communication relationships.
Involvement — Step beyond policy into ownership, which is the beginning of involvement. It is not easy to trust someone who sits at the sidelines and never gets in the game.
Honesty — You can easily lie by omission. No, you do not need to say everything that’s on your mind, but you must be truthful as well as kind. There is no compelling reason to tell your co-worker that red pants make her look like a tomato, but you must tell her if the seam in the back has torn apart.
Openness — Share all information that could impact a decision or the process of getting there. A trusting communication pattern can easily adjust to obstacles and make corrections. Holding back facts might make you feel powerful, but will never make you trusted.
Consistency — Don’t let emotions make you inconsistent and unpredictable; it is hard to trust someone throwing both rose petals and darts.
Respect — Treating individuals with dignity and fairness, and assuming the best in each one is the best place to begin.
Trust is my willingness to allow you (or others) to make decisions on my behalf because I believe that you (or others) have my best interests at heart. If you or others break that trust, the relationship becomes harder to sustain. As a result, some matters become impossible to tackle.
So, ask yourself what you are promising your customers, your employees and others in your life. What standards and/or behaviors are you implying yet not delivering? Are you undermining your relationships before they start? How are you an example of truth and trust to your family? If thinking about the answers to these questions makes you uncomfortable, then it’s time for assessment and change.