Be Sharp | Blog

Tip #1 – Be Honest

Sep 4, 2015 | Blog

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f asked “what are the best business practices one should follow?” Most people would talk about finding a strong investor or having a solid business model, possibly developing good customer service or even saving for the future.

But what about honesty? Integrity? They aren’t as easy to quantify or develop. And if you miss those fundamental elements in your businesses DNA there won’t be anything for investors to invest in. There would be no business left for a business model or much of a future to be saving toward. That’s because there would be no customers left to serve. They would all leave.

You may think that is a bit extreme of a perspective but eventually being dishonest will only end in a wrecked business. It all comes down to this question, “What is business?” If business is purely a transaction of money for some goods or services; then finding the quickest way to get the most transactions would mean you would grow a strong business. But that doesn’t work.

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Zig Ziglar

“Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life – all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.”

In 2014 a survey was conducted

about lying. It shows that most people lie at work, school and to those closest to them.

Reported 1 or more kinds of dishonesty at work or school 93% 93%
Reported lying to or committing other dishonest acts toward those close to them 96% 96%
Percent of American’s who think Nurses have high honest and ethical standards 80% 80%
Percent of American’s who think Business Executives have high honest and ethical standards 17% 17%

Business is about building a relationships. From that relationship a person wants to thank you monetarily for a good or service you have provided. If business is a relationship then trust is needed to make it succeed. And it’s really simple. The only way you can be trusted is for people to trust you. No one trusts a dishonest person.

If you are reading this blog then you more than likely are in the business of working closely with individuals over long periods of time. Months if not years and possibly even decades. And if you want to have that relationship survive longer than a few weeks you are going to need to be trustworthy. Someone people can say, “they have my best interest in mind and are honest.”

So how do you instill this sense of trust? It doesn’t happen over night. In fact, the only way someone builds trust is when that trust is tested. Like in the recent Disney movie Frozen when one of the main characters, Anna, leaps from the face of a mountain and lands into Kristoff’s arms and says “Thanks! That was like a crazy trust exercise.” If Kristoff hadn’t caught Anna then she would have begun to distrust him at some small level in the relationship. I understand it is just a movie but correlations can be made in all of our lives and experiences.

Trust can only come out of a testing of a relationship. That is when someone will find out how honest a person you are and how honest of a business you truly run.

How can you do this on a day-by-day basis? Or even starting today in your studio? It’s simple really. Make sure you give each and every client the actual amount of time they paid for. Don’t try to start 5 minutes late and end 5 minutes early at each lesson. Don’t make excuses be honest. People are clever, they will catch on. Be honest with your time.

Another way to instill trust is to make sure you keep track of missed lessons that need a make-up scheduled. And be the first to bring it up in conversation. Don’t let missed lessons slip under the radar or under the rug in hopes that your clients will forgot. They won’t. Be honest with your make-ups.

One more way to create trust is to provide your policies up front and keep your students updated to any changes. Stand by your policies. It is the structure your studio is built around. The more you hold to those studio policies, the more people will trust what you say. That is the entire purpose to having policies anyways. To make a promise that you will uphold to these standards and follow these rules as a guideline to conduct business and have a functional relationship that each party can trust. Your policies instill trust … only if you follow through with them. So, be honest with how you use your policies.

If you want to stand out in your business and rise above the competition in your area all you really need to be is be honest. And in time, you will succeed.

Now it’s your turn. When has there been a time that you have chosen to be honest and it “paid off”? Or has there ever been a time when you stretched the truth and it didn’t work out in your favor? I would love to hear from you in the comments.

Thanks and take care,

John

Tip #2

When I hear the word intelligence the first thing that come to mind is an IQ test (intelligence quotient test). Which measures the amount of “book smarts” you have or if you can rattle off some math equation or scientific concept. But what does that have to do with your music studio?