Huge thanks to Steve Gladis, who contributed this guest blog post:
The best business development advice I know started with the work of Aristotle in his book Rhetoric. He said that in order for speakers to be believable, they had to do three things well: Show good sense, good character and good will. These three elements comprise: Trust. With high trust, there is no customer you can’t work with and without it no customer you can work with.
- Good Sense is basic competency in your business. In short, knowing your business well. To be of value and even competitive, you must know the substance of your craft.
- Good Character is all about honesty, integrity and courage to do the right thing. If a client sees that you stand for what you say…say-do, you deliver what you promise, and make things right when you don’t, there’s little they won’t do for you.
- Good Will: Simply put, clients must believe that you have their best interest at heart—you care for them in an enduring way. Trust comes not as a one-shot deal but a sustained relationship that good clients want.
Final word—to be trusted you need all three of these (Good Sense, Good Character & Good Will)…not one or two. And if you do, watch the clients you get and the referrals they’ll send your way.
~Steve Gladis
Check out Steve’s Web site and his fantastic BLOG on survival leadership!
Go get Steve’s newest leadership books on Amazon: (click on the images below to go there)
