Honesty within your business…
‘Honesty is the best policy’ – we’ve all heard it! It’s an arguable point, but truthfully, honesty really is the best policy! Especially in the business industry. It’s important not only in your personal life, but also in your professional life. Not only between you and your clients, as well as your co-workers and colleagues.
Having honesty within your business is important. It’s going to help your clients feel they can trust you, which ultimately will bring a sense of security, not only for them, but for you as their mentor. They’re confident you can help them, and vice versa. Honesty leads to confidence, and confidence is key.
How can you be honest? It’s simple really. The most important thing is to make sure you always stick to your word, and honour your commitments. Set realistic goals and achievable plans for you and your clients! Doing so will allow you to smash these goals and help build your reputation.
It’s essential to keep your clients up to date, especially with any struggles and challenges you face, even if it’s something small. You never know what one lie might turn into! Opening up to your clients and speaking truthfully will develop the relationships you have with them, which means you will ultimately gain more respect and loyalty from them. If you’re open with them, they’re more likely to be open with you. Word spreads! People will speak well of you, which will again, boost your reputation and increase brand awareness.
It’s imperative that you always take responsibility for your actions. If you make a mistake, learn from it! More often that not, you can learn as much from making a mistake, than getting something right first time. Owning up to your mistakes shows others that you’re trustworthy, creating stronger bonds between co-workers, which will help make a more efficient and productive workplace, leading to reward, not only for you and your co-workers, but your clients too.
Honesty has personal benefits too…
As you can see, there are many professional benefits to being transparent and honest with your clients, but what about personal benefits? Being dishonest, or lying, can trigger stress and anxiety in our bodies, which is going to have a negative impact on your workflow, relationships with clients, and your general demeanour, which will start to affect your business over time.
Not only will this worry your clients, but if your employees feel they can’t trust you, they’re more likely to quit, which will ultimately have a negative impact on your turnover rate. It’s like I said in my book ‘No Longer Last on the List’; ‘a healthy relationship allows both parties to feel supported and connected at the same time as feeling independent’.
Staying sincere and being direct will not only help give you a clearer head, and sustain your mental health, it will help the people you work with feel more confident, positive, and relaxed.
So, it’s clearly evident that honestly IS the best policy! Take it from me, although the benefits may not seem immediately apparent, it makes a huge difference.
