3 Steps To Build Trust

"The right action can repair the broken trust that mistakes create."

By Catherine Wijnberg

I received a powerful Facebook post this morning that read “Trust is like an eraser, it gets smaller and smaller after each mistake”. It made me stop and think; after all, everyone makes mistakes at some time, and the thought that innocent and unfortunate mistakes could destroy trust is unpleasant. So, what is the repair mechanism when that happens?

Step 1: Be truthful

In my experience, the most important fundamental is to be truthful – as a basic behavior underpinning one’s every day and business life. When we are truthful, we are open and authentic and emanate an energy of light that others are drawn to. This sets the groundwork for others to trust us.

When things go wrong, either through our own mistakes or through the mistakes of others the same rule applies – to be truthful. That means owning up to the mistake, take responsibility for any wrongdoing and be truthful about the why, where and how it happened. 

Lies are like silent signals that go out in waves from us – we may think we are being clever by hiding or bending facts but others can intuitively feel this dishonesty. Even if they don’t know exactly what you are hiding they sense that something is wrong and start feeling uncomfortable. That sense of discomfort is the first signal that trust is being lost.

Step 2: Decide on the right course of action

The next step is action; the right action to remedy the mistake. Depending on the business circumstance you might want to offer an apology and a free replacement or remedial solution. This needs to be of genuine value to the other person.

Step 3: Be accountable and encourage feedback

Lastly, of course, is the action you take to ensure that the mistake doesn’t recur! That means investigating what went wrong and actively changing whatever is necessary to fix the system that caused it. This might be changing a behavior, training staff or improving a quality process.

And finally, as an added service let your client know when and how you have changed things and thank them for being part of this improvement. They will appreciate this feedback and be more inclined to open communication in the future.

So, let’s remember to think about truthfulness, accountability and the right action to ensure we foster long-term relationships with those who are most important to us.