Does trust lead to loyalty or does loyalty create trust? When dealing in business, who is trustworthy? I believe trust is earned with personal experience.
I had to buy a car last month for my son who was T-boned in an accident. He’s OK, but now I have a vehicle to replace. I went to the car dealer where I bought the original vehicle somewhat out of loyalty because I rather deal with someone with whom I am familiar. Bingo! I found it. Same model and less mileage. We went for a test drive. I was checking all the dashboard gadgets, turned on the defroster and asked the salesman sitting in the passenger seat if he could feel hot air coming out. Sure enough, he said he could. I certainly did on my side, so I took him for his word. It turned out it was impossible for the defroster to be working on that side because a significant part was missing from the car.
To get to the point, I trusted someone to give me an honest answer, but who was also trying to sell me something. He basically told me what I wanted to hear to get the sale.
Since I was there due to a sense of loyalty, I went back and demanded a refund. They offered to fix the defroster and keep me happy. Did they rebuild my trust? I’m not so sure.
So, when you are loyal to a vendor, how much are you willing to trust that they will always do the right thing?
- Are you too trustworthy and just take their word for it because you have a “relationship” or maybe it’s convenient?
- Have you shown loyalty, then were let down when something went wrong because you felt you trusted them?
- Are you not trustworthy at all and shut down everything you hear because you feel everyone is out to take advantage of you?
- Do you give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them to prove themselves to you by their actions?
There are a hundred more ways to engage your trust meter. At some point, we have to learn to trust others, but at the same time make sure we are trusting our own instincts.
In business, trust is very important because it could make or break us. I would like to trust everyone but I know that would be foolish. When involved in any type of transaction, I need to know some facts.
- What are my options?
- What’s in it for the other side?
- How badly do I really need to make this transaction?
- Have I done business with this person before?
- If I have done business with this person, have I gotten too complacent to challenge the offer?
- Have I allowed myself to believe everything I’m being told because I became too trustworthy?
Everyone falls into one of these categories at some point. The key is to trust yourself!
When choosing a legal research provider, do you trust your vendor with YOUR money?