The speed of trust

I was recently listening to an audio program by Stephen Covey called “The Speed of Trust”. In it Stephen makes a very interesting and powerful point when he says when trust goes up speed increases and cost decreases. What this really means in business is the more a potential customer trusts you, the easier it is for you to close a deal and the less it will cost you to do so.
I was doing a business review with a client recently when he revealed to me the company had about a 20% closing ratio with cold market prospects but an 80% closing ratio with referral prospects. The trust factor attached to referral business allowed him to be 400% more productive. This is what Covey was referring to with his message.

What would a 400% productivity increase mean to your business? The obvious answer is you would be more profitable, but perhaps also you would have more time to spend with your family. The average business person is working at over 120% capacity today and still not getting everything done. Perhaps the time has come to increase the trust levels with the people you do business with to make your life easier.

So what are some of the activities you can do to help increase trust levels? One thing I try to always stress with me clients is when interacting with prospects make a large number of your interactions have nothing to do with business or attempting to sell them. I work with several financial advisors, which is a very competitive field. Let me use this as an example of how to interact with prospects without trying to sell them something.

Let’s say you have a prospect, Jim, who you know is an avid fisherman. Why not clip some magazine articles you saw and send them to Jim. Perhaps call Jim to introduce him to your friend Steve who is a fishing guide. Show your prospects you care about them as people and not just a dollar sign. Trust is build when people honestly believe you care about them, so go out of your way to show it.

Another great way to build trust is to become an industry expert. Offer to give speeches at your local chamber of commerce, submit articles for local newspapers or volunteer at the local high school. Sharing your expertise with the community without asking for anything in return is a fantastic way to brand yourself as an expert. This will allow you to be seen as a trustworthy source of information.

You will notice a common theme for building trust; it is giving with out worrying about what you are getting back in return. The universe will take care of you, build the trust first and your life and business will get a whole lot easier. Clients who trust you will pay you more and spend less time “thinking it over” so you can spend more time doing the things you want to do.

Cheers,
Chuck