Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Reach Ron Karr directly for news media interview and business inquiry at: (201) 914-3895 or Ron@RonKarr.com

You can take my money, take my house, take my significant other (please don't), etc.  In other words you can lose everything and start over, assuming you still have one critical thing left in tact - your word.  Without the sanctity of your word, you will have a hard time growing sales and your business.

Saturday I visited another car dealer to replace my expiring lease. The dealer promised me he would get back to me by end of the day with numbers.  He did not.  He did call me today and by the time we spoke, I had already lost my trust in him for breaking his promise.  When we were together on Saturday, I gave him the parameters of the deal I was looking for and if he could not meet them, then we would not do a deal.  He promised he could meet my parameters.  When he gave me the deal today, it was so far out of the ball park that whatever little trust I had in this guy quickly evaporated.

Last week I visited a Ford dealer who really wanted my business. I told him I was ready to do a deal and could be back in next Saturday. I told him to call me on Saturday so we can talk.  He promised to call.  He never did and I never went back to him.  Why should I?  If he could not keep his promise to follow-up with me to close the deal, how can I trust him to be there for me if I have a problem?  Read more about this entire process in the post: Increase Your Sales by Qualifying

One more example: Last week a CEO client of mine missed a scheduled call with me and didn't notify me that he could not make the call.  I called him out on this because he has done this before in other commitments.  It shows a level of disrespect and communicates a message he never intended to.

Get the point?  If you make a promise, keep it!  People on the other end are preparing themselves to be ready for you to do what you say you are going to do.  Employees and customers do not respond to your words. They respond to your actions.  Without your word, it is very hard to get people to believe in you and accept your ideas.

Trust is the foundation for all business deals and relationships.  Do whatever you can to protect it.  In the end, no one can take that from you other then you by your senseless actions.  And then, you only have yourself to blame.

To learn how to build trust, read the CEO Bestselling Book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way