Trust is the cornerstone of business

Contracts alone cannot protect Agencies and Clients in every instance. There is simply not enough time to write a contract for every engagement. Nor are contracts always feasible. For example, you can't write a contract to make a Client give a referral, if you complete project successfully.

You could try, but you won't build trust in the process. At some point, either party will by exposed to risk. And trust will determine whether the party will accept the risk.

One of the best ways to understand trust, is to consider what happens in the absence of it. Every effort to collaborate is met with resistance. Every recommendation treated with suspicion. Every error made never forgiven.

An absence of trust can threaten the success of a project, which can effect the Agency's bottom line. The Client, not trusting an Agency, is guarded and distant. They may ignore valuable information given by the Agency to avoid a critical error in a campaign.

If an Agency cannot direct a project from danger, is the deal nothing but a liability?

If trust is so vital to a successful outcome, client service should be measured not by the results of their campaigns alone, but by their ability to foster trust. Building trust, not building campaigns, should be the guiding force of every decision an Agency makes in its dealing with a Client.

Trust is measureable. Not by whether a Client will shake your hand, but the amount of influence exerted. Different degrees of trust provide different levels of influence.





Executor level tends to be where most trust begins. The Agency repeatedly executes tasks for a Client with the ultimate goal of becoming the Client's criticisor. As a criticisor, the Agency is working optimally for the Client, by providing insights to how the Client's operations and personnel can be improved. As a criticsor, the Agency can transform the very nature of the relationship - improving productivity and efficiency.

A triangle of trust not only provides the Agency influence, but the taller the triangle becomes, the more resilient it is to small, inconsequential errors an Agency may commit. Small errors which at an execution level, threaten the very foundations of the relationship, bounce off harmlessly at criticisor level.

The reason the triangle becomes more resilient as it grows, is because both the Agency and Client are contributing to its growth. The Client, like the Agency, has an emotional and psychological stake in the success of a trust triangle. For the Client, trust spells less red tape and more informal communication, which equates to faster results.

Self awareness the key to service

The customer experience is difficult to control in a service environment. Customers have a transparent view of company, its staff and operations – all in real time. This complex set of variables produces an untold number of unpredictable scenarios.

Systems can provide top-line guidance, but the day-to-day is largely lost or gained by staff who possess self awareness. Self aware people can read between the lines. They know the limits of the system and when to step in to switch off the auto-pilot and provide a tailored solution.

When you are self aware, you are exactly that. You are aware of the self. You stand outside yourself, and look at the world not through your lens, but through the lens of others. You put aside your needs and feelings, and behave objectively. We can place ourselves in the shoes of others and intervene when the system is not being effective.

Self awareness means being totally in the service of those around you, both at work and in the private life. In this mindset, there are no barriers imposed by the self, because you are not focused on the self. All your energy and concern are deeply routed in the ground around you - not within you.

Effort is directed outwardly to your colleagues, management, customers and family.

By being in the service of real people, in the real world, and not captive to your own feeling and needs, you empower the self without focusing on the self. You become free of your own self-imposed bounds, and connected to the environment.

Strangely, the more focus on the self, the less we stand to gain. In an age where the self is considered above all, nothing can be more threatening to our survival and preservation than a focus on the self. In the 7 Habits of highly Effective People, Covey suggests that it is the people who are interdependent, not independent, who stand to gain most.

In economic terms, we need people to help us achieve our goals, and without their buy-in, we struggle. This thinking is confirmed by spiritual beliefs, which suggest that a selfish life bares little fruit, but a life of generousity creates abundance.

Scenario

Judy recently joined an Agency as an account service person to manage a difficult account. The account is a major piece of business for the Agency, but staff are reluctant to work with the Client. Staff complain the client makes them feel powerless, useless and expendable.

Judy was naturally cautious, but wanted to make a difference. While people within the Agency harboured thoughts which protected their beliefs and justified their behaviour, Judy put herself in the shoes of her client.

By not focusing on the self, Judy feel the client's anxiety stemmed from a high expectation placed upon themselves, their staff and their Agency. So strong was the client’s ambition, it drove a distance between him and everyone else one else around him.

By removing the self, Judy could observe and listen to the client objectively, and not be affected by his criticism. Judy was able to defend his action within her team, and encourage the Agency not waste time in justifying their defensive behaviour, but to put themselves in the service of the Client.

Judy’s self awareness preserved the income stream from the high profile client and increased the satisfaction of those involved in the projects by improving trust and openness.