Trust needed to take business to next level

Take a minute and think back to the best business advice you ever received. How has it helped you move your business to the next level?

I asked the board of directors for the Better Business Bureau this question and want to share three of their responses.

• Mona Pearl, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Align, Cheyenne: “A mentor/friend once counseled me regarding a situation I needed to address with an employee. For a year I watched the employee struggle to succeed in a position for which I’d hand-selected him. We were on a downhill slide in this area of our business, but I didn’t want to hurt the employee’s feelings — especially since I’d been so positive about his ability to do the job. My mentor said to me, ?If you don’t have this conversation now, where will you be a year from now?’ I still abide by this ?rule.’ No matter how difficult it will be today, it will only get more difficult if it’s put off.”
• Zachary Wilson, partner in The Wilson Law Firm, Fort Collins: “On my first day as an associate attorney, my boss told me to always be honest and candid with my clients, co-workers and fellow attorneys, because if I ever lost my reputation for integrity, I could never get it back. He also handed me a timesheet and told me to make sure to keep track of my time — if you don’t bill, you don’t survive.”
• Mike Pierce, business development director for Burns Marketing, Johnstown: “The best advice I’ve ever received came from Napoleon Hill, author of ?Think and Grow Rich.’ The quote is: ?What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.’ You must truly believe in your concept and truly believe in yourself. Having a strong belief allows you to extend outside your comfort zone with more confidence.”

All three of these examples show that having trust in yourself and in your decisions is an integral component of taking your business to the next level.

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Inspiration in unexpected places

In my experience, if you have trust, taking a business or organization to the next level becomes easier. You’ll find inspiration in unexpected places, you’ll face adversity with courage, you’ll value difference of opinion and you’ll not be afraid of meaningful risk-taking.

In his book “The Speed of Trust,” Steven Covey tells the story of a New York donut and coffee vendor who implemented a self-pay system to eliminate long lines resulting from having to make change for each customer. “By extending trust in this way, Jim was able to double his revenues without adding any new cost,” Covey wrote.

Trust eliminates many roadblocks to taking that next step up the ladder. Warren Buffet once completed a multimillion deal on a handshake, thanks in large part to his inherent trust in the other party.

While this particular example is the exception to the rule — written agreements save many a headache (and lawsuit) later on — the point is that the business transaction was only possible because of trust.

Covey cited a study sponsored by the Warwick Business School where researchers analyzed 1,200 outsourcing contracts over a 10-year period. Relationships that relied on trust as the primary driver rather than solely on the written agreements outperformed the value of their contracts by 20 to 40 percent.

Covey calls this a “trust dividend” — and it’s an important component of taking your business to the next level.

Pam King is president and chief executive officer of the Better Business Bureau serving Northern Colorado and Wyoming.