There are many things that businesses require to be successful, from customers to capital to operate. However, if there’s one overlooked quality of a business that can sustain it for many years, it is transparency. What does this mean?
Transparency with customers is essential in order to earn the trust of your clientele and ensures that you not only retain the customers that you already have, but that you also gain new customers. Guess what? Trust is an important issue that matters to many customers, especially in areas such as insurance. If there is a lack of trust, then that leaves room for misbehavior, which will only lead to further distrust.
Transparency begins with holding yourself accountable. If a business holds itself accountable, it will be able to recognize where it is wrong and allow them to patch up any fractured relationship with their customers. If you align the decisions that you make along with the values or mission statement that your business has, then it will be much easier to be transparent. However, if you breach that trust for the sake of convenience or any other external reason, that can be the precipitating factor for trust erosion.
Once you acknowledge what the faults are of the business or yourself, that transparency and courtesy must be extended to your employees. Employees are the heartbeat of the business because it is their work and operation that keep the business running. If they feel as though management from up top is not completely honest with them, it can cause them to want to leave the business. Making sure that all the members of your team not only feel valued but can trust you is important for the success of any business. However, if there is something even more important as to why you should be transparent in all aspects. It is something that will live beyond perhaps you.
Your business’ reputation is at stake when it comes to being transparent. The way your business is perceived on the outside world can cause current customers and aspiring customers to determine whether or not they should still give you their business. You do not want your business’ legacy to be built on a lack of trust. You want to build on being honest. Business transparency runs hand in hand with government transparency as our business help support the economy in our country. It is essential that our businesses and government are built on a platform of trust so individuals can feel valued and are not left in the dark about important matters.
