Why trust is key in any type of relationship

Our Key Takeaways from Plow’s First COmmunIT Breakfast
Connecting, Building, and Sharing Ideas

Last month kicked off Plow’s first COmmunIT Breakfast at the Puffy Muffin in Brentwood’s North End. The inspiration behind this initiative began with the thought that good conversation between like-minded individuals could result in something beneficial for all. The goal was to encourage these people to build relationships, discuss common challenges, exchange practices, and more. Not to mention all of this over tasty breakfast and strong coffee.

The conversation was immersive, interactive, and thought-provoking. From that, one of the things that really stuck out was…

Trust is key

How do you break through the noise?

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.

How do you differentiate?

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.

At Plow, when we become an extension of your team, that’s when we become the most valuable because you treat us as such; not just as a resource. It allows us to play multiple different roles, such as collaborator, challenger, and advisor.

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About Plow

Headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, Plow is a Total Service Provider (TSP) with several distinct business practices that, when consumed together, offer our clients a unique, best-in-class experience that give them peace of mind, valuable time back and the economies of scale that come with having one partner that is focused on exceeding their expectations with every engagement.

Plow Contact

Talia Di Domenico
Plow Networks
(615) 224-8735
tdidomenico@plow.net

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