In today’s highly competitive economy, it is
difficult to maintain a significant market advantage based on
your professional skills alone. Developing a trusting
relationship with your clients is key to your success. No
matter what business you are in, the most powerful value-added
you can contribute in any business relationship is the trust
factor.
The trust level in Corporate America is at
an all-time low, and suspicion of “all things corporate” is on
the rise. Clients and prospects are in search of trust in
their business relationships. Although people do business with
other people they know and trust, building trust and
credibility does not happen overnight.
What is trust? Trust can be defined as a
firm belief in the honesty of another and the absence of
suspicion regarding his motives or practices. The concept of
trust in business dealings is simple: Build on an individual’s
confidence in you and eliminate fear as an operating
principle.
To cultivate trust, take the risk of being
open with clients and prospects. This enables them to perceive
you as a real person--one with strengths and weaknesses that
come into play as the relationship develops. When trust is
reciprocal, you will find that your confidence in others is
rewarded by their support and reinforcement of what you also
stand for as a business entity.
Letting Go of Fear
Let go of fear, which restricts your ability
to relate to others. Letting go frees you of behavioral
constraints that can immobilize your emotional and
professional development. Fear of rejection, fear of failure,
fear of success, fear of being hurt, fear of the unknown—all
these are roadblocks to developing and growing a trusting
relationship with clients. Let go of your fear of losing an
account or not having the right answers. Leave all your fears
at the client or prospect’s doorstep.
Other critical steps in cultivating trust
are knowing who you are and knowing your potential value to
your clients. The relationship that forms because of this can
have a tremendous impact on your sales. People don’t just buy
from anyone. They buy from people they can trust. The rapport
and credibility you can establish with the trust factor go a
long way toward building a client’s confidence in your ability
to meet his business needs.
Trust has both an active and a passive
component in a business relationship. The active feeling of
trust is confidence in the leadership, veracity, and
reliability of the other party, based on a track record of
performance.
The passive feeling of trust is the absence
of worry or suspicion. This absence is sometimes unrecognized
and frequently taken for granted in our most productive
relationships.
Building Trust With Care
So how do you build trust with clients?
First, you need to care about them. Obviously your clients
care about your knowledge, expertise, and accomplishments.
However, they care even more about the level of concern you
have for them. Successful trust building hinges on four
actions: engaging, listening, framing, and committing. The
trust factor can be realized once we understand these
components of trust and incorporate them in our daily lives.
Engaging clients and prospects occurs when
you show genuine concern and interest in their business and
its problems. Maintain good eye contact and body posture. Good
eye contact signifies openness and honesty. And your body
language and other forms of nonverbal communication speak
volumes about your attitude toward them. By the same token,
you want to be cognizant of your client’s or prospect’s eye
contact and body language.
Listening with understanding and empathy is
possible if you think client focus first. Let the client tell
his story. Put yourself in his shoes when you listen to his
business concerns, purpose, vision, and desires. Show approval
or understanding by nodding your head and smiling during the
conversation. Separate the process of taking in information
from the process of judging it. Just suspend your judgment and
focus on the client.
Framing what the client or prospect has said
is the third action in trust building. Make sure you have
formed an accurate understanding of his problems and concerns.
Confirm what you think you heard by asking open-ended
questions such as “What do you mean by that?” or “Help me to
understood the major production problems you are
experiencing.” After you have clarified the problems, start to
frame them in order of importance. By identifying the areas in
which you can help the client, you offer him clarity in his
own mind and continue to build his trust.
Committing is the final action for
developing the trust factor. Communicate enthusiastically your
plan of action for solving the client’s problems. Help the
client see what it will take to achieve the end result.
Presumably, what you have said up to this point has been
important, but what you do now—how you commit—is even more
important. Remember the old adage “Action speaks louder than
words.” Show you want this client’s business long term.
Complete assignments and projects on budget and on time. Then
follow up with clients periodically to see how your
partnership is faring.
In the final analysis, trust stems from
keeping our word. If we say we will be there for our clients,
then we should honor that commitment by being there. Trust
results from putting the client’s best interest before our
own, from being dependable, from being open and forthcoming
with relevant information. It is impossible to overestimate
the power of the trust factor in our professional lives.
Truly, trust is the basis of all enduring, long-term business
relationships.
Robert Moment is a best-selling author,
business coach, strategist and the founder of The Moment
Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping small businesses
win federal contracts. He just released his new book, It Only
Takes a Moment to Score, and recently unveiled Sell Integrity,
a small business tool that helps you successfully sell your
business idea. Learn more at:
http://www.sellintegrity.com
or email:
Robert@sellintegrity.com.
.gif)
