What is the best way to establish trust and build up a clientele that loves to come back?

The answer is simple.

Transparency.

In business, being forthright and honest can go miles further than looking sharp or knowing the lingo.

To be as plain as the nose on your face and upfront about what your company’s values are, how you do business, when your projects will be completed and in what manner is vital to healthy business relationships.

Pointing out your limitations and being clear as to what you will not be able to produce is equally important.

Trust is established.

Clear and realistic expectations are sketched.

And the dignity of the client is affirmed.

In business, as in all of life, if we want to succeed, we cannot hide. If we dodge honest answers and exaggerate our capabilities, we will only create an atmosphere of deception and dubiousness.

But if you are undisguised and crystal clear about whom you are and what you do and if you always follow through, people will want to do business with you—again and again.

If you are not transparent, it will come back to haunt you.

It sounds so simple and obvious, yet it is so often forgotten: what goes around comes around.

I once had an incident where a freelancer was unhappy with me and instead of working it out with me first, she disclosed her frustration with my client. I was embarrassed that my client was brought into what was for her a petty internal affair of the company.

But you know what? I was up front and crystal clear about the problem, owned up to it and did not try to hide anything from the client.

The client could have lost complete trust in us, but I told her the truth and she hung in there with us. We worked it out and although I am no longer using that freelancer, the client keeps coming back.

And it is because honesty and trust were established.

And so may we be truthful and sincere, candid and frank and always exuberant in our desire to deliver the best we can without deception.

The best companies are the ones who keep their records clean and are on the level and above board with their employees and clients.

To be truthful and sincere can make for great business relationships that are longstanding.

And for us at Sherri Rosen Publicity, transparency is the hallmark of how we do things.

We just couldn’t settle for less.

Sherri Rosen has her own publicity firm in NYC for over 12 years giving a powerful voice to people who are doing wonderful things in the world. She also writes for Gatekeeper’s Post, The Good Men Project, Her own blog, Redhead’s Blog, Triiibes, along with the wonderful elephant journal. You can friend her on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

Editor: Jamie Morgan / Brianna Bemel