Richard
You could be working with your closest lifelong friend in a business, someone you’ve loved for years and years. But if they don’t get the results you expect, you will lose faith in them. You’ll lose trust.
On the other hand, you can be thrown together with a total stranger. And if that person gets the results you’re looking for - quickly and repetitively - your trust for them will skyrocket. That person may be Jack the Ripper, but if your first experience with them is, they get results, then you will trust their competence. Over time, the character flaws will diminish your trust in that person. But still … their extreme positive performance goes a long way in a hurry. Results are a BIG fast trust-builder.
It’s become a bit trite over the last 20 years or so, but there is a phrase that really says it all: “Underpromise and overdeliver.”
Don’t bother talking the talk. Just walk the walk.
I once worked with a guy who was outstanding at what he did. He got good results, and he got them quickly. But even so, he always underdelivered. How could that possibly be? Because he overpromised. He hyped so hard, boasting of the incredible results he’d get, that he couldn’t possibly live up to his own words.
No matter how productive you are, when you consistently promise results that don’t happen, you lose credibility. You lose trust.
Think about the people in your business life and in your personal life who deliver on their promises. Compare them to those who don’t. For all of us, we’re much more likely to extend trust to those who have delivered results in the past.
One of Dr. Phil’s favorite sayings is, “The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.” Can people change and improve? Sure. But mostly, they don’t. Mostly, they make the same mistakes over and over.
When you get the results people want, you get more support from both above and below. You get more flexibility, more leeway to do things your way.
I once interviewed a couple people who owned a nutritional products company. Using the information I got from them, I wrote a mailing piece. I selected a mailing list I thought might get good results. We put out a 5000-piece test mailing within a couple weeks of having met these partners.
They didn’t know me. They didn’t know what to expect. I’d had some good results in the past, but not for them, so there wasn’t much basis for trust.
About 4 days after the test went in the mail, I got a phone call from one of the owners. She said, “Well, obviously you know what you’re doing.”
They were deluged with credit card orders. Trust went from 0 to 100 in a heartbeat.
It’s crucial that you and the other person or parties have complete understanding & agreement on the details - exactly what results are expected. If they expect apples and you deliver 2 tons of oranges, that is not what they wanted.
Might look like great production to you - but it’s not what they wanted. So your performance was great, and yet, you killed trust. That’s why it’s critical to be 100% clear in what results are wanted. Be certain of the time frame and the budget, and when the results start coming in, verify that they are getting what they want.
Resist any urge to hype. Be open and transparent and optimistic, but do not hype.
Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky once said he skates to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been. The better you get at prediction in the model you are working in, the better your results will be.
It’s important to establish a track record of results. That track record will get you trust more quickly. Be on time and within budget. And if it goes wrong, don’t make excuses.
Getting it right is your responsibility.
I appreciate you!
Richard Dennis
