Why trust is key in any type of relationship

High-level executives receive a lot of emails, phone calls, and sometimes even text messages from people trying to sell their products or services. With so much influx to these inboxes, the legitimate and worthwhile messages often don’t get picked up because it is extremely difficult and time-consuming to sift through.

When making the decision on whether or not to answer a phone call or email, most executives rely heavily on one thing: trust. Trust can come from different places. It can come from word of mouth, recommendations, referrals, suggestions from friends or colleagues, and more. A recommendation creates that interest you need for the right people to notice you and, we learned at the breakfast that, a partner is often discovered from the bottom up, rather than found from the top down.

So, how do you build trust? Trust comes down to building relationships. Executives are looking for people who want to help them solve their problems, not just sell them ‘stuff’. They want a partner that will help them buy the things they need in order to achieve business outcomes and remain successful.

When reaching out to an individual or company you want to do business with, it’s important to be relevant. In order to be relevant in the IT space, you need to know somewhat about the company’s IT strategy. Don’t make a phone call, write an email, or go into a meeting blind. Do your research.

This can really be a chicken and egg game, so the ability to differentiate comes from the exact same root as the ability to break through the noise (which is establishing trust; in case you didn’t already glean that). The bottom line is, if you can’t establish trust, you will find yourself at a dead end.

However, just like personal relationships, building loyalty doesn’t happen overnight. Meaningful relationships require time and effort to build. When you accomplish this on an ongoing basis, success will follow.