Having people put their trust in you is no small feat. Trust is essential for a business to grow. How relieving it is to be able to rely on a business partner, to have confidence, and be rest assured that they would always meet up to your demands and expectations. It is a big win to be able to depend on someone you do business with, that is trust

 Trust is a vital ingredient to making a business sustainable and ensuring its steady growth. 

Why is trust necessary in business?

  For one thing, it takes trust to be able to get goods or products on credit or with half payment, especially from the manufacturers. Many traders do not have enough money to stock up their stores and shop as they would like, they often get their goods on credit from wholesalers or manufacturers and pay as they sell. You will agree with me that it takes trust to do this. The wholesalers/manufacturers trust that you would pay your debt as soon as possible, you also trust that your marketing staff would do a good job so you can pay what you owe.

 Secondly, it takes trust to get people to allow you to offer your service. People need to be able to trust you before making you their account officer, or before letting you into their homes or offices. They also need to be able to trust you before leaving their property for you to fix.

  Additionally, businesses grow when there are referrals. Your present clients/customers need to trust you before they can introduce you to their family or friends. No one would want to be in the middle of a sour business case.

The importance of trust in a business can not be overemphasized. How then do you go about building trust between you, your staff, clients, and business partners?

Benefits of having trust in business

Trust in business is cyclical. Customers come to you because they have confidence in your brand, you trust members of your staff to deliver on the goals and objectives of your firm and your employees look up to you to create an enabling environment for them to perform their duties efficiently and to keep customers coming back. Trust between you and your staff would result in trust between your staff and customers which would, in turn, facilitate transactions.

 In this time of doing online business, trust is a major component of success. Many of your clients do not know you personally and may not even reside in your state or city, trust is what would earn you their patronage.

Where there is trust, your employees become more responsible as they would put in their very best to make sure they do not lose your trust. Knowing that they have their boss's trust boosts their morale and thereby increases their productivity.

Effects of distrust/lack of trust in business.

 Lack of trust in business would do the opposite of what having trust would do to your business. Employees would suffer from a lack of motivation and would relax in their duties, after all, no one expects them to perform well. This would lead to a decreased rate of productivity which would also hurt the way customers view your brand, after all, your staff are your brand ambassadors.

How to build trust in business

1. Be honest with all whom you do business with;  If there are challenges that would affect the way your business is done, be open to your staff and clients, and let them know these difficulties and how you are trying to go beyond them.
2. Avoid selling fake or inferior products: Put your customers' interest first. No one wants to buy fake anything even at a cheaper price.
3. If you offer a service, ensure it's superb, always. Never do a shady job because the pay is lesser than what it ought to be, instead politely decline to offer your service.
4. Offer great customer service. Have regular follow up conversations with your customers, and let them tell you the benefits and challenges of patronizing you.
5. Put your positive reviews and feedback in the public domain as this would earn you the trust is new customers.
6. Keep a record of your services. Take pictures and make good videos, these would come in handy when you are pitching to prospective customers. Pictures and videos would serve as evidence that you can deliver on the job.
7. Pay up debts and loans as and when due.
8. Adhere to government policies as they relate to your business.
9. Avoid going back on agreements.
10. Hire only capable hands and avoid the "hire and fire" syndrome. It offers a measure of stability which is a good breeding ground for trust.
11. Do not micromanage your staff, rather supervise them closely.
12. Keep to time, and avoid the "African time" mentality in your business.

Lack of trust in business can lead to you losing your customers and business itself faster than the speed of light. Click here to read about what experts considered the 8 pillars that make for a trusting relationship and see how you can implement them in your business practices.

As stated earlier, a great way to build trust in business is through communication. SmartSMSSolutions offers you great digital marketing campaign service. Use our bulk SMS service to reach out to your staff, partners and clients. You can register a bulk SMS account with us here. You can also reach out to us on 07034243326.