The Trust Equation

This week I attended BUILT-IT 3 course here in Houston. It mainly discussed about sales, the very thing that I dislike ever since I was a kid. I was glad that the instructor put several thoughts that have deep and broad meaning that can be applied to anything, not necessarily to sales. Today he was talking about "Trust Equation". He mentioned: TRUST = (CREDIBILITY + RELIABILITY + INTIMACY) / SELF ORIENTATION from a book called "Trusted Advisor". Sounds like crap w.t.h at first huh?!

Then our instructor, Richard, talked us his own experience when he was young (he's old now), that he had to work with a particular client, the Exploration Manager, that literally hated us. His secretary always escorted him and only gave him 15 minutes time to talk to him. So Richard prepared a small note containing the list of questions that he would like to be answered for his project. He went back and forth to him several times, and all the time he's doing just like that, asking questions from his note, very straight forward, very business oriented. Until someday, when he got the note from his pocket and began questioning, he suddenly realized that the guy didn't behave like usual. He was kind of having thought to somewhere else. Richard concerned and asked this guy what happened. This Exploration Manager guy, said that he thought that he has lost relationship with his boy. Richard asked him his age. He's 10 years old. He stopped and because he also had a boy about that age, he can't help thinking what if the same thing happened to him. Richard then put back the note to his pocket, deeply concerned said that this probably was not the best time to discuss the question and left. Back to the office he saw our company shirts, and he went back to that client's office with two shirts and had the receptionist gave the shirt to that guy.

The next morning at 8.30 AM, guess who called. It's the Exploration Manager! He asked Richard to come over. Richard asked when. The guy said anytime. So Richard went to him. When he arrived, this guy has waited for him, and personally came to greet Richard and invited him to his room. He told Richard that yesterday he wore that shirt and went home, then he threw the other shirt to his son, and said "Come on, let's play basketball until dark". Although he lost the game to his son that day :), apparently their relationship was back. And he really thanked Richard for that.

Since that moment, he believed in Richard, and finally restored the relationship with our company. Richard said that it wasn't planned, and it can't be planned. Sometimes you just have to take yourself or the "blue hat" off and really concern to the others. If you think back the equation, Trust = ....... divided by "self orientation". If say, you have high credibility that peoples can believe in what you say, high reliability that peoples actually believed you can do the job, good intimacy that peoples are comfortable near you, but you think none but yourself, do you really think that you can be trusted?

My thought suddenly goes to my managers I had throughout my years here in the company: MAD, FS, and now KS. They really have put themself off at some time, defend and really help me, not by saying but with real actions, I can say here that I was very very lucky to have trusted managers like them. Thank you really...