By Carol Ritter
I recently read a poll on trust. “How much do you trust the following people?” The poll results state that we trust our friends the most 81%, we trust our doctor 68%. That’s the good news. We trust Congress 12%, our bankers 45% and we trust CEO’s 3 to 5% – the least. Oh my goodness, where do you think you rank, what percentage would your customers rank you? I was thinking about who I might trust, completely. I trust my family, I trust most of the people I work with, I trust my doctor, my dentist, my master-mind group, my favorite restraurant and more.
I checked Webster…trust means reliance on the integrity & strength of a person-having confidence
But then the REAL question. Who don’t we trust? My answer is I don’t trust people or companies who break the trust. Those establishments who don’t deliver. Think about friendships, when you have a friend who betrays you, it takes a long time to regain the trust. Sometimes, it’s over forever. It’s the same with business, if you betray a customer or client they might be gone forever. Or even worse, you may spend an inordinate amount of time regaining the trust. Time translates to money in most businesses.
In order to build trust and confidence with your customers try this….
- Be the first to take responsibility for a mistake, don’t blame others
- Listen more – Talk less – the greatest human need is to be listened to
- Be willing to “make up” with some free stuff
- Be sincere when your apologize, customers can identify phoney
- Do what you say you will do, do it one time and do it correctly
- Train your staff, model trustworthy behavior
- Raise expectations, always be willing to go over and above to not only gain trust but to maintain it
You may want to…Trust your own instincts.
Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.
Billy Wilder, Hollywood Filmaker- think about this!
Carol serves as a featured writer for the Home News and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Blog.
Carol is an accomplished professional speaker, coach and educational consultant specializing in innovative leadership, outrageous fundraising, million dollar marketing, and building organizational alliances throughout the country. Carol’s creative leadership with bullet proof ideas for recruiting MORE MEMBERS, MORE MONEY AND BETTER LEADERS. www.caroltalks.com
