Trust is a simple matter of doing what you say you are going to do. This is a simple matter from a personal perspective, but the rule applies just as strongly from a business perspective. Unfortunately, getting a new customer to trust you is not always an easy task. A simple definition of a business is that they exist to fill a need, be that creating a new product or providing a service to another company that they cannot do themselves. Successful companies are those that, not only ensure that they fill the need in the best possible way, but that they also do it in a way that keeps their customers with them. After all, providing the best product in the world is useless if there is no one around to buy it from you!
Earning and Keeping Trust in Business
Successful businesses are surprisingly often those that have had to deal with conflict and problems. While it might seem that companies would like their suppliers to never have a problem, the true nature of the “quality” of a business is in how they deal with a crisis. Those businesses that ignore the issue, blame it on the customers themselves or on other suppliers, in general do not keep their customers. I have found that most businesses realize that problems will arise from time to time with their suppliers; it is, however, a measure of the leadership of that supplier and the quality of their team if they take ownership of the problem and see it to its eventual successful conclusion. This does not, in any way, mean that the only way to a successful relationship between firms is through resolving problems, but, rather, it is one of the ways. Ensuring that you have a successful relationship is about doing what you say you are going to do in a timely and efficient manner.
To be that person in your company, it is essential that you realize that you need to have the right team of people around you. A leader should be the visionary, providing the direction and oversight to his/her company and team, but he or she should not be the person doing all the work. A great example of an extremely credible leader is Steve Jobs and Apple. Jobs was, without doubt, the visionary behind many of Apple’s most innovative and profitable devices and services. While his loss to the company will definitely impact the trust that many people have in Apple, his team will be able to continue on and help keep the company on track. Jobs might have left but he has left his vision behind and the people that can make that vision come true!
Motivating your Teams
Building a successful company is very much about ensuring that everyone in your company is working towards the same goal. To keep staff motivated and focused on the end point, it is absolutely essential that all available information is provided to them so that they know what they are working towards.
Motivated staff not only work harder and more effectively; motivation rubs off in other ways, too. The key thing to remember is that all of your employees from the president to the cleaning person represent your business in everything that they do. You want them to be passionate, not only about the job they are doing for you, but also about your company itself. This passion will easily be seen and felt by everyone around them.
Letting your Customer help
Over the years, I have had to deal with customers of all stripes and sizes, and there have been some who have definitely taught me quite a bit about leadership and its worth. The key thing that I have realized from these exceptional companies is that they “believe”. They believe in what they are trying to do; they believe in their customers and the worth of their customers; they believe they can make a difference in their industry and to the world. Having this belief is an absolute necessity and any good leader knows that he/she needs to have a similar belief in his or her company, product and team.
It is only through the realization that you have done the best you can with what you have that you can truly be successful at what you are trying to do.