Are you Trustworthy?

TRUST: The belief that another will fulfil their obligations and their promises.

TRUSTWORTHY: Deserving of trust

So how does one become trustworthy? Being a good person is not enough. If you expect to earn the trust of your buyer you need to incorporate three things into your approach....

1. Unwavering Reliability: do you consistently do as you promised? This is simple in concept, yet difficult in action. The first question to ask yourself is whether you have a system to produce reliability. That is, how do you document and track the promises you make, and what is your system for moving those promises made into the promises kept category. If you don't have a good system that works for you (versus one the Steven Covey tries to sell you) I can pretty much guarantee you are failing the reliability test more often then you should.

2. High Levels of Capability: are you a resource and a value to your customer? If you are reliable, but lack capability, then you will receive limited trust. What capabilities are needed? Think two areas: knowledge and skills. First you need to have the product, process, industry, customer and general knowledge that makes you a resource to your client. Without this knowledge you have limited potential for trust. Second you need the skills that would make you an asset to your client. these might include listening skills, analytical skills, and communication skills. With knowledge and skills you become capable of meeting your obligations.

3. Honest Communication: are you willing to frankly communicate the dependability and capability of your company and its products. The reality is that as salesperson, you are often directly responsible for the promises made, but only indirectly responsible for the promises kept. The kept side often involves the many people and processes within your firm that "touch" the customer. Your level of trustworthiness will be partially determined not just by your firm's performance on these, but also on your communication related to the performance of these. Put simply, if you communicate weakly or slyly, you should expect lower levels of trust.

So there you have three factors to consider when you ask yourself: am I trustworthy? If you don't like the answer to that question, hit each of these areas and improve the belief in others that you will meet your obligations and fulfil your promises. And continue being a good person - it won't hurt, but it won't be sufficient on its own.