The Evolving Trust Continuum‏

This post may appear a little off the track of Performance Improvement through process improvement.

When embarking on process improvement to improve performance there is an implied judgement that the current process is broken – and as such is the fault of somebody or a business unit!

Hence, it is important when working in such sensitive situations to follow the trust continuum evolving from Trust – Confidence – Reliance – Dependence. Not dependence in the sense of the client cannot move without the support of its process improvement advisers but more that a level of trust has been reached with full confidence.

To gain the TRUST of a potential client, there’s a lot more to communicating than just words. Your body language and your tone speak as loudly as the words you vocalise, therefore each discussion, workshop, and/or presentation must be offered with cheerfulness and confidence.

Upgrading the client’s TRUST in you to CONFIDENCE is generated from you delivering on your previous promises.

There may be times when you meet with a client and you don’t feel an immediate connection. Consider it a challenge! Trying to find ways to connect with the person and then achieving it can be very rewarding. After all, your mission is to be the most important resource to your client therefore your goal is to impress the potential client with your ability to solve their problems.

Pay careful attention to what the client really needs by actively listening. In achieving this you raise the relationship from CONFIDENCE to RELIANCE!

Finally you move from RELIANCE to DEPENDENCE. Here you demonstrate that you are a Mainstay and a capable person that sustainably delivers on promises.

If you have had problems with establishing trust levels, please share the story with me and other readers. Thank you.