Leadership and the Importance of Establishing Trust ; I've been thinking more and more about trust and how we understand the importance when it comes to our clients but how we sometimes forget its importance within our own teams.
Where Is the Trust?
A few years ago, I hired a salesperson that was released by a competitor when they closed their doors. She was a very good performer, and the quality of her work was very good. But it bothered me that the way that she spoke and her body language displayed that she didn't trust me-or anyone else in leadership. I thought it was a personality problem; maybe she was just skeptical of leadership generally, or maybe she was just had a problem with authority altogether.
As time wore on, I had more and more chances to communicate with her, and I had more opportunities to help her. But there wasn't a great change. Then she started to receive her commission checks. Her first checks were small, but they were always delivered when they were due, and the reporting was always completely transparent.
Over time, we developed the kind of relationship where we could talk openly and honestly. I noted that her demeanor had changed, and at some point she had seemed to learn to trust me. I tied the timing to the arrival of her commission checks. She agreed.
Learning to Trust:
She said in past positions, the leadership of her companies had told her things that never came true. They promised to pay her commission based on a certain percentage of profit and then changed it after the fact. In her last two jobs, she had been promised commission that was never paid at all. The last company shut their doors, and had never even hinted to her that it was a possibility.
Her lack of trust wasn't some character flaw. She had been taught not to trust by the leadership of the companies that came before us. We had to earn her trust and, over time, we did. What allowed us to earn that trust was our keeping our commitments to her over time, our walking our talk.
Trust is the foundation of all great relationships, be it with your clients or your employees.
We sometimes underestimate the importance of establishing this trust early. It means we have to spend time listening to our sales force and keep our commitments to our team. Earning trust from your sales force is every bit as critical to your success in sales management as is sales force earning trust from your clients.
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