Trust. It is one of those words that evokes a certain, unique mental imagery for most people. Some people will immediately think about a parent or favorite family member, some will think of lifelong friends and others may think of a pet or a favorite place. Trust can be hard to define and even harder to explain.
One of the many definitions of trust is to allow someone to have, use, or look after something or someone of great importance and/or value, such as trusting someone with your life. The reason that I bring this up is that to be successful in business (and in life), we must develop trust between us and the others close to us in our life.
In the home inspection industry, an inspector must obviously develop trust between their clients and themselves. Successful inspectors also develop and nurture a level of trust between them and their source of referrals. Whether that source is real estate agents, lenders, title companies, or some other type of human or digital intermediary, success in this space demands a certain level of trust.
So, how do we develop this trust with our sources? How do we gain the trust of the people that control the referrals? Successful home inspectors realize that in business, as in everyday life, relationships must be nurtured, and typically take a long time to develop to a deeper level of trust. Unfortunately, many inspectors ignore this fact and walk right up to an agent that they’ve only just met, immediately asking that agent for their business. While there’s certainly something to be said for guerilla-style marketing (attempting to overwhelm our opponent into submission), we’ve always heard that ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ Another way of saying it is that giving a consistent and effective effort towards our goal will ultimately increase our chances of success.
When we are trying to develop a new business relationship, we need to think about the long term. Can we see ourselves working together for years to come? Do our goals and standards align? Is there some way that this could turn into a mutually beneficial relationship?
Unfortunately, building relationships takes time, and when we’re starting out in a new business venture, time is the enemy. Many small business start-ups fail in the first two years due to lack of capital. For home inspectors, this means that if we’re not doing some type of inspections, we are not creating income. Proper planning for these lean times is essential to surviving in the inspection industry. Planning ahead helps increase the possibility that we will be able to survive the time it takes to begin to develop these business relationships.
In the next post, we will continue the discussion of trust, explaining how providing value to our clients can assure value for our business.
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Thanks, Joe
