My latest column in The Queensland Country Life.
Many years ago, someone asked me, “Why do your clients seem to trust you so much, Ben?”
Strangely enough I’d never really thought about it, so my first response was that I reckoned it was because my parents had taught me to be honest and always do the right thing.
But over the years I have come to realise that there is more to building trust than just being honest.
How do I know that? Well, whenever a new client was referred to me, I would ask them why they were leaving their old adviser.
One response always intrigued me and it was something like, “He’s a nice bloke or she seems honest, but….”. The old adviser was nice and honest enough, but something was missing! They were trading on being honest and likeable but that was only enough up to a point.
That got me thinking about our IVF doctor. He had a terrible bedside manner, was rude and arrogant and worst of all, he charged like a wounded bull. But strangely enough, we developed a pretty high level of trust in him. Why?
Firstly, he was prickly, but he was totally sincere – sometimes brutally so. He was always straight with us, and it was clear he was completely focused on getting a positive result for our family, rain, hail or shine.
Secondly, he was extremely competent. He was widely recognised as one of the best in the business and he worked constantly to make sure he was always abreast of the latest developments.
Thirdly, he was reliable – he was always on time and always prepared.
When I reflected on it, all the people I have grown to trust deeply over the years, both professionally and personally, had a combination of three specific traits and possessing just one or a combination of any two of them wasn’t enough.
The foundations of our business and its relative success was built on what I call The Trust Model:
Sincerity + Competence + Reliability = Trust
Whether you are a farmer, grazier, provider of services to the agricultural industry or you just want to build trust, you must be honest and sincere in your dealings. Be competent at your chosen occupation which sometimes involves being able to say, “I don’t know, but I will find out,” or “That’s outside my expertise so let’s find the right person to help,” when you don’t have the answer. But above all be reliable, and do what you say you will do and by when you say you’ll do it by.
People who foster high levels of trust do better in every part of their life. So if you want to be trusted, or you want to work with people you can trust, remember that the combination of all three trust traits is where the magic happens.