Why do our customers buy from us and go on buying.? It is because they trust us to deliver what we say we will, and we make them feel safe in our hands. Their trust is essential as Seth Godin explained recently.
The only way we can maintain the trust is by being consistent and reliable, and offer the best service we can, considering and meeting the customers’ needs.
Of course sometimes things do go wrong, and we must try our best to rectify any mistake or mishap. Life is such that sometimes we cannot. I had a client who asked me to send her papers back by courier. The courier lost the documents and they were never seen again. Understandably the client blamed me rather than the courier and since she could not replace the documents, I lost her trust irretrievably. Some things you cannot put right.
The courier company lost my trust. I would never use them again. They were so unhelpful when I asked them to try to find the package. They were difficult to contact, only accepting email and having no telephone number for customer services.
So that is two suppliers who lost someone’s trust for ever. I feel I did not deserve it, but, hey, life goes on.
I work hard to make sure my business delivers what we are good at. I keep an eye on my suppliers’ performance. I want to trust them as I need to be trusted. Trust is the foundation of all our businesses, isn’t it?
