I stopped for petrol this evening - I was pretty desperate for it as I'm sure I was running on air! So I pulled into a petrol station, took the petrol cap off, pulled out the nozzle and waited for the attendant to press the button to start the pump running. And I waited. Eventually I looked over to the shop and the girl points at a sign - a big sign, so don't ask me how I came to miss it! The sign said 'PAY BEFORE FILLING'. It stopped me in my tracks.
The sign was suggesting that I was untrustworthy - sure, I know that the petrol company has probably had some people who have driven off without paying at some time or another, but to suggest to ALL customers that they can't be trusted, that didn't feel good. So I trusted on air, got back in the car, and hoped beyond hope that the air in the tank would get me to another petrol station soon!
And as I drove off it got me thinking about trust in business. As a photographer I am always asking clients to put their trust in me, and I'm sure many of you do that too in order to get the best out of your clients when you photograph them. But can our clients trust us? Do we deliver and behave in a manner that encourages trust?
I was once bitten by an incident with clients who begged me to order some parent albums in time for Christmas although they wouldn't be able to pay until the time that the albums arrived, but if I didn't put in the order the albums wouldn't arrive in time for Christmas. I trusted the clients ... and you guessed it, they didn't pay. And so for a while I felt that I wanted to treat every client as if they were going to 'do me over'! Thankfully though, over time I have returned to the behaviours that are true to me, and that show clients that they can trust me because I trust them first.
When you look at your business, do you find yourself doing things that demonstrate a lack of trust whilst asking clients to trust you? Ask yourself why you do each part of your business, and you may surprise yourself to discover that you too are asking clients to 'PAY BEFORE FILLING'.
Oh, and the good news, not only did I manage to reach a different petrol station that was happy to dispense petrol before I paid, but it was also 4p per litre cheaper!
The sign was suggesting that I was untrustworthy - sure, I know that the petrol company has probably had some people who have driven off without paying at some time or another, but to suggest to ALL customers that they can't be trusted, that didn't feel good. So I trusted on air, got back in the car, and hoped beyond hope that the air in the tank would get me to another petrol station soon!
And as I drove off it got me thinking about trust in business. As a photographer I am always asking clients to put their trust in me, and I'm sure many of you do that too in order to get the best out of your clients when you photograph them. But can our clients trust us? Do we deliver and behave in a manner that encourages trust?
I was once bitten by an incident with clients who begged me to order some parent albums in time for Christmas although they wouldn't be able to pay until the time that the albums arrived, but if I didn't put in the order the albums wouldn't arrive in time for Christmas. I trusted the clients ... and you guessed it, they didn't pay. And so for a while I felt that I wanted to treat every client as if they were going to 'do me over'! Thankfully though, over time I have returned to the behaviours that are true to me, and that show clients that they can trust me because I trust them first.
When you look at your business, do you find yourself doing things that demonstrate a lack of trust whilst asking clients to trust you? Ask yourself why you do each part of your business, and you may surprise yourself to discover that you too are asking clients to 'PAY BEFORE FILLING'.
Oh, and the good news, not only did I manage to reach a different petrol station that was happy to dispense petrol before I paid, but it was also 4p per litre cheaper!
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