Did you know that one of the most challenging parts as a home-based professional is building trust with the clients? And I guess this is a general situation no matter what we do, right? As defined by yourdictionary.com, Trust is confidence in the honesty or integrity of a person or thing. (noun) An example of trust is the belief that someone is being truthful.
I always believe in the golden rule “Honesty is the Best Policy” and this has been my professional mantra. I know that with my profession, I get to meet different people everywhere, and it is my goal to make the person believe in what I say which comes from my heart.
Why am I saying this? It’s for the reason that mostly when we are dealing with people we just met, we want them to see and feel that they can trust us, as we live in the world of deception, and we do not want to be branded unjustly. I get this question a lot, “How can you make a client trust you?”, I am no expert in this field, but based on my experience, I can share some insights on how I can sense that my client trusts me or not.
Here are some of my guiding principles in understanding whether or not I am winning my clients’ TRUST:
T- ruthfulness
Remember my professional mantra? I always believe that honesty will lead to a better relationship. Just be true to what you say and do not pretend about something that you are not. It will reveal, I tell you. How do I do this? If I am asked to do something which I have not done before, I inform my client, which will also help set the expectations. Many, will promise the sun and the moon just to please their clients to show them that they can do it, where the truth is they know nothing about it. What’s worse is that they will ask someone to do it for them and pay that person (simply say, outsourcing the task), this is something we should NEVER EVER DO!. You are deceiving yourself here and not the client. Ask yourself, how does it make you feel? If you can do it once, you can do it again. So remember, it’s best, to tell the truth.
R – eliability
When you work remotely, clients will rely on their VA’s. They need their VA’s to be flexible and responsive to assure them that they are within reach when they are needed. Make your clients feel that they can truly rely on you.
U- nderstanding
Listen openly and assess the situation as needed. Always lend a helping hand. Sometimes our clients tend to manage everything and they are forgetting that they have someone to help them out, so make them feel you are there for them. Understand that they have hired you to keep them sane.
S- incerity
Take your actions seriously. You are not there for no reason. Enjoy and love what you do, show your sincerity. Showing that your client’s business is important to you, this will give them the feeling that you value and care for them, and they can provide you with more work once they see that you are truly showing the desire to work for them in helping them grow and not just waiting for the payday.
T – ransparency
Your clients are not stupid not to know what you are up to. They have a very strong feeling if they are getting their money’s worth from hiring you or not. Have open communication with your client, resolve situations together, share your insights, tell them how you feel about a situation, and how you can make things better. Express yourself clearly so that you both have an idea that you are on the same channel.
Lastly, I will tell you to give you and your client the time. It takes two to tango as the saying goes, sometimes things are just slow because of the circumstances surrounding their business and personal lives. Specially so, if this is both the first time you and the client will be venturing to remote working. You definitely depend on each other to make sure that everything will run smoothly.
If things don’t work as you expected it to be, that’s fine, everyone is a different person, it does not mean that YOU can’t be trusted at all or vice versa. Again,
give yourself the time, as both of you are still getting the grind of it, so add to the time, patience, remember, patience is a virtue.
We know ourselves better than anyone, including our intentions, I am just giving my insights based on what I think will help others to figure out how to win their clients trust, but if the intention is to deceive them, this will be too obvious based on the outcome of your relationship.
As for my closing, we must always pursue greatness in all our dealings and the important thing to note, observe, and always assess yourself if you are being truthful or being pretentious.
Trust is just one indicator to know that you and your client will click, consider other factors as well, such as: COMMITMENT, INTEGRITY, COMPETENCE and CONSISTENCY, it’s a cycle. I hope that this will give you a better understanding of how to build trust with your clients and vice versa. Till my next writing ????
