Building Trust: The Key to Future-Proofing your Business Pt 1
If you’ve worked with me or you’ve read my book you’ll know that I believe that TRUST and GOODWILL is the essence of everything and the most effective and sustainable way to build and grow your business.
In this 2 part episode I take you through my 14 step checklist to build the trust factor in your business:
Be real. People have different expectations and are looking for purpose, substance, provenance, and positive realism.
Demonstrate your competence and ability through storytelling.
What makes you credible? Making key information available to your stakeholders about why you are the right person / team / brand for the job.
People do business with people. Who is / are the faces behind the brand? Share more of you, your story, the people working in your team and your customers.
Be a force for good. Why not “Go the extra mile” - become that Great Place to Work - or the best apprenticeship provider or award winning brand.
Review results and Demonstrate and communicate the IMPACT you make.
Lean manufacturing - Never sit still, always look to see how you can do things better.
Social proof. According to Robert Cialdini, who studied the principle of social proof in-depth in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, “we view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it”.
Share your key milestones and statistics:
Show you care - compassion. Take time to engage with your teams, your customers, your partners or other
Silence is never golden. This means sharing the good and the bad.
Keep your promises - do what you say you’ll do.
Embrace being perfectly imperfect. It’s how you deal with it and fix things that makes the difference.
JOY - love what you do - be yourself, share your passion and create a shitload of tummy flips.
Resources
Future-Proof your Business Webinar 18th April - sign up for my free interactive workshop
https://www.iamlucyrennie.com - free downloadable resources, other episodes and more information about how to work with Lucy.
Join me in my membership The Future-Proof Club here -
Episode 26- Are you really listening? https://www.iamlucyrennie.com/podcast/are-you-really-listening
Episode 43 - Joining the Dots https://www.iamlucyrennie.com/insights/joining-the-dots-the-programme
Come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you in my FREE Facebook group: CWP (Communicate with Purpose) Group | Facebook
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Future Proof Your Business EP57
[00:00:00] Lucy Rennie: Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Future Proof Your Business podcast. I'm Lucy Rennie and I've just recorded this episode all about kind of the various elements We need to think about or that I believe are really important in helping you to build trust and goodwill for your business, for your brand, whether that's for your customers, for your teams for the business as a whole.
[00:00:21] Lucy Rennie: And. I've recorded it and it's about an hour long because it's just something that I could probably talk about for weeks and weeks. So what I've decided to do is split it into two parts.
[00:00:30] Lucy Rennie: But this is the introduction for part one. And I will see you once you've listened to this episode. Next week for part two of the same topic, which is all about trust. And I'm going to take you through the 14 steps, the 14 parts of my invisible checklist that allow you to build trust for your business and your brand.
[00:00:49] Lucy Rennie: So thanks for listening and I look forward to hearing what you think.
[00:00:51] Lucy Rennie: And this week you'll see bit of a different background. I'm actually I'm on holiday. I'm in Anglesey. I'm by the sea. And I wish I could actually reverse the camera on this and show you, but I have got a beautiful sea view.
[00:01:05] Lucy Rennie: I'm sitting on my bed and I've got a gorgeous sea view in front of me, which for me is just heaven. If you know me, you'll know that I am at my best when I'm by the seaside. And this place actually, is really special to me because it's where, I've been coming here for quite a few years now, but it's actually where I discovered it when I was writing my book and I came and I managed to have some time out for a few days by myself to download everything from my head and get the first draft of the book written.
[00:01:31] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, love coming here. And with the family, we've had a week of nearly 10 days actually over the Easter. Easter break as well. And it's just been great. We've slowed down. The weather's not been amazing. It's just been blustery gales, wind blowing, rain, et cetera, which actually is quite nice.
[00:01:44] Lucy Rennie: I've been out for some runs, big walks with the dog. But it has actually made us slow down and that's been brilliant. So yeah the reason I know I've actually switched off and slowed down is because my brain now is wearing up and I've got loads of ideas and lots of stuff that I want to put into place and get started with.
[00:01:59] Lucy Rennie: That's always a good sign that I've managed to switch off and I've actually had the out of office on as well this week for the first time in a very long time. In fact, I think it's the first time in the nine years that I've been running my business LR comms that I've actually officially had the out of office off and not had to worry about things going on in the background.
[00:02:15] Lucy Rennie: I've actually been in control, which has been. A massive factor, I think, in allowing me to, yeah to switch off and replenish. And that's one of the things that I should talk about in the book. There's a whole epilogue, a whole chapter on, on that kind of putting your own oxygen mask on first.
[00:02:31] Lucy Rennie: And those who know me and work with me and they know how important that is, and sometimes it's easier to say rather than do, and this time I'm really Tapping into that, making sure that I'm doing it. So yeah, that's where I am. And this week really I think one, one of the things that I wanted to talk to you about, and it follows on from the last episode, which was all about the power of felt leadership.
[00:02:49] Lucy Rennie: And I talked to you about the How we built the safety culture and how I believe it's really important that we start from the top down in leadership. And if you want to build that trust and that culture and that really engaged that engaged culture and that, one of the key ways really of future proofing your business.
[00:03:04] Lucy Rennie: So I touched on kind of that felt leadership model, which was about doing the right thing, but also being seen to do the right thing and then actually being believed to do the right thing and showing that you care. And for me, I think following on from that, what's really important is and what I really believe is that if you want people to come and work for you, if you want people to buy from you, if you want people to engage with you, then ultimately they need to trust you.
[00:03:26] Lucy Rennie: And. Yeah, it's something that I just, I believe is
at the essence, really, of future proofing your business. And it's that building that, that trust and that bank of goodwill ultimately so that, people will come back and work with you again. They'll stick with you. They'll engage with you.
[00:03:44] Lucy Rennie: They'll do anything for you. They'll give you the benefit of the doubt. They will shout back you from the rooftops. They will You know, pretty much do anything for you if you can create and sustain and develop that goodwill and that trust. And, if you've read my book it's pretty much the essence of the whole thing is all about that, that long, Journey, the fact that it's not an overnight success and that actually, if you can really, come down to basics and build really strong foundations built on trust and doing, good stuff, then ultimately you're going to build something that's really sustainable for the future.
[00:04:16] Lucy Rennie: And What I thought I would do today is just talk you through a little bit about what I've learned over the last 25 years or more of working in business from all perspectives and give you some pointers or just even like I talked about last week. Last time, but it's not necessarily about teaching anything new.
[00:04:34] Lucy Rennie: It's not about necessarily, coming up with new ideas. It's more about bringing it all together, giving you a bit of a refresh, giving you a nudge and sometimes just a reminder of the things that we probably all know we should be doing or that we could be doing better or that we, maybe need to pick up again or focus on again.
[00:04:49] Lucy Rennie: That we maybe sometimes forget about, or that if, we get caught up in the day to day of running a business and the rollercoaster ride that is. So yeah, today's episode really is about how can you build that trust? And what are the actions, what are the things you need to think about?
[00:05:04] Lucy Rennie: And ultimately for me, it comes down to the way that you behave. It comes down to the actions that you take, but also the way that you communicate and that means for whether that's your customers, whether it's your employees, your team, whether it's your shareholders, whether it's. Key, other key stakeholders that might be in the local community.
[00:05:20] Lucy Rennie: It might be in neighbors. It might be the local
school, colleges, journalists, local HMRC, government, whoever it is. It might even be your partner at home or your kids. It's all about doing what you say you're going to do. It's all about the actions that you take, but ultimately it's about managing expectations.
[00:05:35] Lucy Rennie: And that comes down to communication. And it starts really at the basic level. I'm You know with going back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, ultimately, particularly in a business, that's the kind of, the first level of trust is that actually in exchange for that service, in exchange for services rendered, you're going to pay a salary or you're going to pay an invoice in exchange for that.
[00:05:57] Lucy Rennie: And it sounds ridiculous me actually having to say that, but every day, whether it's on threads or On social media or somewhere you can see small business owners who are, having, struggling to get paid for what they've, the services that they've delivered. And that just blows my mind and we'll go into that a little bit later, but really at the basic level, it is just about that actually just trusting each other to be able to, to enter into a deal, whether it's a signed contract or a verbal contract, whatever that might be.
[00:06:26] Lucy Rennie: And sometimes it is just as simple as these guys are showing up and doing the work because they, at the end of the day, they know that they're going to get paid and then they'll be able to provide, a shelter and food and all those things for their family. Those are the basic needs. On top of that, we need to be so thinking about, once we've got that basic level in place it's asking us ourselves questions about, why should people trust us?
[00:06:47] Lucy Rennie: What is it that makes you credible? What are the key trust factors? I'm always talking about with my clients about having these invisible kind of checklist of like a tick box of elements of different things that will subconsciously help somebody to trust you and we're going to go through those a little bit later on, but Things like what, what makes you relatable?
[00:07:07] Lucy Rennie: What makes you believable? We talk about, and I've written it down here. And that's why I'm looking at my notes. So in magic, in in episode 55, I talk about the magic of communication and we talk about how to enter into a stakeholder communications plan and all those things. And I encourage you to think about, what do they want
to know from you?
[00:07:22] Lucy Rennie: What do they need? What's important to them? And putting yourself in their shoes. So thinking about consumer behavior, What is it that they need to know in order to trust you, in order to engage with you, in order to buy from you, in order to come and work for you. And sometimes just thinking about your own experience and how you encounter a brand or a business or a person, what you look for, what those invisible tick boxes that you're subconsciously ticking off or not.
[00:07:48] Lucy Rennie: And that's just as important as to notice what the red flags are or what the things that are missing are niggling away at you. And yeah, we talk about the first seven seconds. It's basically when somebody makes their first impression of you. So within the first seven seconds of seeing you, of being, of talking to you, of maybe some shaking your hand, that was a big thing, in the.
[00:08:08] Lucy Rennie: It still is now in, in a lot of the, sort of the industry world where I work. You've got to have a good handshake, it says it all. And it's incredible because I can feel it. I know what it's like when you give somebody, and you shake somebody's hand and it's this limp thing and it's, you come straight away you've already built an impression of them based on that or the other way, if it's a particularly strong one.
[00:08:31] Lucy Rennie: So there's all sorts of different factors that come into play. And this then. We, yes, we can move forward on it and we can be constructive and we can unpick it later, but actually those first seven seconds are really important in terms of actually the, what the first impression is that we make of people, we've made up our minds subconsciously and that can be based on, inner beliefs that can be based on our own experiences, our learnings of things that have been happening in and around us.
[00:08:54] Lucy Rennie: And that's different, it differs to everybody. So just thinking about that and thinking about what you want people to maybe Be intentional about it. And what what is the impression that you want to give can sometimes help you to be more strategic about the way that you're communicating and the way that you're telling your story and engaging with your different stakeholders.
[00:09:12] Lucy Rennie: And one of the key things that I'm, I like to ask people is. Because very often we talk about facts, don't we? Talk about things, tangible things, but actually a lot of trust is based on a gut feeling, isn't it? So it's based on just an inner knowing, that intuition. And so asking yourself, how do you want to make somebody feel?
[00:09:32] Lucy Rennie: How do you want somebody to Yeah, to leave, what's the, what, how do you want them to perceive you? What's the energy that you want to be giving off going to help them as we move forward? .
[00:09:41] Lucy Rennie: I mentioned in my book Ken Blanchard, who has developed a really simple trust model that I just find incredibly easy to apply. And actually, no matter how in depth and how much I unpick and explore and bring in lots of different elements, ultimately, I think actually all of the different things can fit into these four categories that Ken talks about.
[00:10:01] Lucy Rennie: And I will actually pop the chapter, I'll pop a link to the chapter and to some more information about his model in the show notes but he talks about the ABCD trust model and yeah, it's maybe one of the old ones still, but I genuinely, this is why I love the simplicity of it and why we invent the wheel when we don't need to.
[00:10:19] Lucy Rennie: And yeah he says, so what's it say? So he sets out the four elements of trust that are critical to creating and sustaining trustful relationships. Summed it up, doesn't it? So the A is for able, which is, are you able to deliver? Do you have the competence? Are you, do you have the ability to be able to do what you say you're going to do?
[00:10:37] Lucy Rennie: B is for believable. Are you actually doing it out of integrity? Are you doing it? Are you true? Is it authentic? Are can we actually believe that you are going to do this? Or are you just faking it and, winging it? That kind of thing. The C is for connected, which Again, comes down to people, doesn't it?
[00:10:54] Lucy Rennie: It comes down to really showing that you care. It comes down to connection with building those relationships and actually communicating ultimately. And then the fourth one is D, which is dependable. And again, it's, it's all about honoring commitments and
keeping your promises. So those are the four.
[00:11:12] Lucy Rennie: Elements of Ken Balanchar's trust model, which I think just a really nice reminder and just to have as a bit of a, as a checklist to think about and just to if you are setting your strategy or checking in with yourself and your brand or your team or even your kids, we can use this anywhere.
[00:11:29] Lucy Rennie: It's a really nice reminder. And so from that, what I thought I'd do today because I don't want this to be a super long episode, but just more about giving you some pointers and some things to think about is I thought I would give you my 14 checkpoints on my invisible checklist that I encourage my clients.
[00:11:49] Lucy Rennie: Business owners to think about and to implement and to use as they are developing their strategy, whether that is for their teams, whether that's for their safety culture, whether it's for building engagement, whether it's getting buy in for a new vision or a new project, whether it's about engaging with customers, whether it's about whatever it might be.
[00:12:10] Lucy Rennie: These are my I always encourage. Them to think about, having that invisible list where they can go tick, tick, tick, and that's what people are doing as they're making their mind up as to whether they can trust your business or your brand. Or ultimately you. So the first one it's got to start with is just about being real.
[00:12:26] Lucy Rennie: It's authentic, authenticity. And I talk about this, I think again in a couple of different episodes, but Really since COVID a lot of people are, consumers and people are having different, growing in their expectations that they have from brands, whether that's to work for them or to buy from them, et cetera.
[00:12:41] Lucy Rennie: And we're looking for a lot more. It's not just about going and buying the pair of trainers, or it's not just about going and getting the burger. We want to know What's behind it. We want to know that actually it's a real brand, that there's a, there's a story behind it.
[00:12:54] Lucy Rennie: And I talk about, don't have that. There's the purpose, the substance provenance, but then also that positive realism,
which we'll come back to, but it's really being. Honest about who you are and what you're doing and not trying to be something that you're not. And I think if we can just embrace that in itself, I think it's a huge thing.
[00:13:11] Lucy Rennie: And if I'm honest, it's taken me 45 years to be able to do that confidently or to not worry about what other people are thinking. But I think the more that we can embrace our own story and not be thinking about comparing ourselves to other businesses or other brands, the more we're actually able to stand out from the crowd for who we are and what we believe in.
[00:13:29] Lucy Rennie: So that's number one, be real and be authentic. And yeah, it's a bit of a buzzword, but I just think it's really important. Number two, I've put, and again, really important to say there's no particular order in this, so don't read anything out of it. These are just, for me, the most important elements. And actually it's really hard to prioritize because I think actually I could probably defend each of the different points to be the most important if I needed to.
[00:13:52] Lucy Rennie: So 14 key elements that you need to think about and that you can maybe, yeah. Maybe take on board as you're building and the trust and goodwill for your brand. So number two is demonstrate your competence and ability through storytelling. So this is really important because I speak with a lot of my clients and a lot of people who don't, Like to talk about what they do. They don't like to showcase their achievements. They don't like to demonstrate the value in what they do and their products or services or why people should come and work for you.
[00:14:25] Lucy Rennie: They don't like it because they feel a bit, it's a bit icky. It's a bit salesy. Maybe it's all kind of that, Oh, I don't want to be all braggy and all those things. To the point where I've got people who won't even go on LinkedIn or won't even share their stats on Strava because they think that it's all linked to being.
[00:14:42] Lucy Rennie: I'm the best sort of thing, whereas actually for me, it's the opposite of that. And it might take me 45 years to really embrace this and not really care in the sense of, comparing myself to others. But actually, the more we can be genuine and tell our story and showcase what we do By being real.
[00:14:59] Lucy Rennie: And again, it's not, it's about actually just telling the stories of what you do day to day. It's about showing the results that you get. It's talking about the clients that you work with. It's about highlighting the amazing people that work for you and the, the, all the good stuff that they're doing.
[00:15:13] Lucy Rennie: It's about just. Just simply telling your story. I think that's a really nice way of putting it. And it reframes it from that sort of salesy promotion kind of thing. And, but by doing this, what we're doing is we're actually building trust with people because first of all, we're showing that we're doing what we say we're doing.
[00:15:31] Lucy Rennie: Secondly, we're showing who we're working with, the people that we're working with, where, we might even go behind the scenes and share a little bit about what's going on and the realness of all the, of, Of the people about the, the hard work that goes on behind making the machines or the cables or whatever it might be and it makes it relatable.
[00:15:48] Lucy Rennie: So people can, first of all, get a sense of who you are and what you do, but they can also maybe relate going, Oh, do you know what, that's what I need, or I can see that, or it humanizes it. So if we can make the shift from this sort of salesy promo kind of way of doing things to more about actually just simply storytelling, whether that's You know, whether it's a blog, whether it's on social, whether it's on a podcast, whether it's a video, whatever it might be, or it might just simply be telling a story on a Friday night in the pub to your mates about what your business is and what you've been doing or a success story or somebody who came in.
[00:16:22] Lucy Rennie: You don't it's a way of letting people know what you do and helping them to build that trust. Number three is about what makes you credible. And this kind of ties in as well. So it's thinking about. Your business or your brand or yourself as a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.
[00:16:37] Lucy Rennie: And so from the perspective of those people who you want to trust you, they're making, if you think about this checklist, they're making up their minds that, they're building this impression of you. And so there's certain things that they're going to need. To help them to build that bigger picture and yeah, make that holistic what do I want to say that picture of who you are.
[00:16:57] Lucy Rennie: So for example, if you need your car to be a moteed or fixed, then you're going to go to, a mechanic or a car garage, but for you, you need to know that, they know what they're doing. Yeah. You're not going to go somewhere where you're not quite sure whether actually they do know what they're doing or whether they're experts and all those things.
[00:17:16] Lucy Rennie: And it's the same thing for what you're doing. And sometimes we can assume that people know. What it takes to be the best or what it needs, what you need to do to get to where you are. And so we don't talk about it. And so we don't put it on our website or we don't add it to our emails or we don't include it in our proposals.
[00:17:35] Lucy Rennie: And it's really, it blows my mind actually, to be honest, I've got quite a few clients who. Even like ISO accreditation, when they've worked really hard to get it, or they've had a a quality stamp from ADR or they've I don't know, they've won an award with Made in Britain or there's something where it's highlighting good practice.
[00:17:53] Lucy Rennie: It's highlighting that you care and that you're doing things properly. Don't take it, don't think that it's a given because there's a lot of people in your industry, either that they don't know that it's a given. You should have. And secondly, there might be a lot of businesses who actually aren't doing it in the right way.
[00:18:07] Lucy Rennie: So just actually, it's not even about making it up or bigging it, or, it's about being credible in the sense of actually just showcasing your story and what you do and all the bits and pieces. So I've talked about here in my notes, I've put, it could be that ISO certificate, it might be the CPD.
[00:18:21] Lucy Rennie: If you've got to do regular CPD to maintain your status, maybe as an accredited practitioner, like me in the CIPR, then I'm going to make sure that I highlight that so that people recognize it. And that was going to help me to stand out from the crowd of my competitors, just in building that puzzle.
[00:18:37] Lucy Rennie: And it's going to make me more relatable to maybe somebody who actually believes in that. And we're going to talk about continuous development and all those things. But these are little,
those, remember it's those invisible trust factors. It might be things like having insurance. It might be having having signed up to a code of business conduct or code of ethics.
[00:18:54] Lucy Rennie: It might even just be having those specific qualifications. So things like a coaching qualification, have you actually, so many people using the words coaching and mentoring at the moment that it's it's, There's a blur, it's a blurred space all these different terms and all these different things that people are giving themselves, but actually what is it, if you've got a real qualification behind it that showcases what you've done, like for myself, when I was working with the brilliant Claire Bradshaw Associates to get the coaching and mentoring training, then talk about it.
[00:19:23] Lucy Rennie: What else have I done? What else have I noted down? There could just be things like years of experience. It might be things like another example that I could maybe use from my own experience is so I speak fluent French. Okay, but anybody can say I speak fluent French, yeah? For me, If I couldn't actually speak fluent French and pass as a French person, I wouldn't, I just wouldn't be able to say I speak fluent French because that's one of my values is about honesty and transparency and about being the real deal.
[00:19:55] Lucy Rennie: And so from somebody who's just looking at that and thinking, Oh, she speaks fluent French. What can I give to them as silent tick boxes on my trust checklist to help them to maybe believe me more, maybe to see that I am able, if we go back to that ABCD thing. And so I could tell them I lived in France for 10 years.
[00:20:13] Lucy Rennie: I've got a degree I've got French degree level. I worked with French as pretty much my primary language for gosh, 10, yeah, 10 years and I could give anecdotes of how, even when I was living in the UK, but I was working out of Luxembourg, I used to answer the phone. At home here in Whaley Bridge, and I'd actually answer it in French not realizing because my brain was still in that zone, or I'd be sleeping, talking in my sleep in French.
[00:20:39] Lucy Rennie: So there's little things like that, and that's the storytelling, as, as well as the kind of the qualifications and the experience and the different things that are just silently ticking off those, that checklist for somebody who wants to trust that actually I can speak
French, I can speak fluent French, and they can trust me if they were to, I don't know, whatever that might be in terms of wanting something In fact, somebody did actually ask me last week, randomly, to, he's an author, he's a brilliant author, Dave Stokes, and he was asking me to check some of the French that he's used in his latest novel.
[00:21:09] Lucy Rennie: So yeah, how, had no idea in the beginning whether You can trust me or not. So yeah, these are the things that we can do. So it's not about rocket science. It's just simply about pulling together the picture, thinking about, who are your clients or who are the people that you want to build trust with and what are those things that that might help them to build those trust factors in a more effective way, in a quicker way than, taking too long.
[00:21:35] Lucy Rennie: So number four I've talked about is people do business with people and you know this if you've come into my world a little bit, but I'm a massive believer in the fact that it's all about relationships and it's all about people and all about connections. Hence why trust and goodwill is at the heart of it.
[00:21:50] Lucy Rennie: But one of the things that I know and I see all the time in terms of a massive big tick on This checklist is who is behind the brand. Don't be afraid to show your face. Don't be afraid to talk about you as a founder or you as the leader. But it doesn't always have to be just you. You can also showcase your team, the people, your partners, the suppliers.
[00:22:15] Lucy Rennie: So the more that we can see and get a feel for it, and think about those seven seconds, it helps people to make that decision. It helps people to build that bigger picture and put that jigsaw puzzle together. And very often I think we can get scared of it. And I think sometimes we think as well as business, small business owners that we're supposed to be corporate and try and be professional.
[00:22:35] Lucy Rennie: And very often we talk in the sort of Oh, in the, in this sort of tone that, that makes us actually dehumanizes us because we're trying to be something that we're not, or we're not trying to, we're not letting people in because we're afraid that they might think we're too small or that we're not good enough, or we're not big enough, or we're not whatever enough.
[00:22:54] Lucy Rennie: Whereas actually, if we can go back and think about being really authentic, being about being competent and why should we be, why, what makes us credible, then. There's no reason whatsoever why we shouldn't be actually really honest about who we are and our business and what we do. If anything, it adds to it, becomes back to that authenticity.
[00:23:12] Lucy Rennie: I think there's something really icky about for me, where people are talking about Yeah, insinuating that there is a bigger team behind it when actually there's not. And I think sometimes as well when we go into thinking about who we want to attract and the types of people that either we want to work with us or we want to buy from us, then actually we want to attract the people who Want, and trust people like us to do what we're doing.
[00:23:35] Lucy Rennie: So again, it all comes into play, doesn't it? And so it's really good to think about it, but just starting off with showing who you are, putting your face to the brand, letting people in a little bit more behind the scenes and humanizing what you're doing. Then number five is all about being a force for good.
[00:23:52] Lucy Rennie: I'm just going to yeah, so being a force for good, and this is really important to me. Again, I believe in my sort of big vision of things. I'm on a mission really. I want to, I want, I really believe that we should all be able to work and do what we love. Whether that's owning a business, running a business, working for a business, whatever that might be.
[00:24:09] Lucy Rennie: I really think, I really want to encourage people to play to their strengths and to find the joy in that. And part of this Is when we're talking about acting out of integrity. So it blows my mind a little bit when I hear a lot of people, especially at the moment, it's quite a buzzword to talk about integrity and doing things in the right way.
[00:24:28] Lucy Rennie: And yeah, I don't really, I don't really know what else to say about it. It just blows my mind because, and I've said this before and I say it in my book, but for me, It should be a given. It's if you're running a business or you're working for somebody, then you should be doing the right thing.
[00:24:42] Lucy Rennie: It's just, that's just, you should be, if you say
you're going to be delivering something, then, if that's what you say you're going to, whether it's making McDonald's, whether it's making, hamburgers at McDonald's or whether it's selling a high class, high ticket. Service in a hotel or wherever it might be, that's the exchange of business.
[00:24:59] Lucy Rennie: It's providing a service or a product in, in exchange for, something, money, whatever that might be. So it blows my mind when people talk about integrity, because for me, we should just be doing it. And so the, just, I don't understand why we shouldn't, and I'd like to go a little bit further with that and almost makes me question people when they're, when they are talking about it in some ways because, why do we need to even mention it? It's a bit like I'm a nightmare when we go out for food especially when we go somewhere new. Drive my family nuts because I will always go and check the food hygiene rating.
[00:25:30] Lucy Rennie: The kind of the, you get it on the door, don't you, with the restaurant. It basically tells you, what the score is for whether the restaurant, the pub, the cafe, whatever it might be has met the food standards I don't know, the rate has, yeah, it's met the standards for managing and looking after food.
[00:25:45] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, I just won't go if it's not got a five, because for me, it's a given if you're serving food to the general public, then, how can you not be doing it at such a high standard? So that kind of gives you an example for me of that's a massive trust factor. If you haven't got five, but you're serving food to people, what does that say about the rest of your business?
[00:26:05] Lucy Rennie: And this is why, again, it's all interconnected. And it's a bit like when if I'm taking Elliot or. We're doing something for the children or whatever that might be. And if they haven't got the right first aid training or the safeguarding in place or those things, when it should be given, then that blows my mind.
[00:26:21] Lucy Rennie: And that just completely almost that is detrimental to the rest of the trust factor, because it's just if they haven't got the minimum things in place, then why can I trust them? How can I trust them to have the other bits in place? So it's this weird Scenario, isn't it? That actually we've got to have all these things in place, but if
one thing is missing and actually they all come tumbling down.
[00:26:40] Lucy Rennie: And again, it's one of those things it's like, it's we talk about a lot is ethics and as a coach and an accredited PR practitioner we learn a lot about ethics and we have to really dig deep into what that means and we have to sign things like Code of Business Conduct and Code of Ethics and all those things.
[00:26:56] Lucy Rennie: Had to do an assignment talking about ethics in it. And it's not black and white, there's all sorts of things depending on the scenario, depending on the situation. But again, it's something that we should be thinking about and should be aware of. And it should be a given that we all kind of thinking in, and we're aware of it.
[00:27:12] Lucy Rennie: And yeah, so that's where I'm with the being a force for good. And I think the bit for me is that's the given. So these are the foundations, but actually why not flip it on its head and actually go the extra mile? So I'm a massive believer in kind of, why not strive for that great place to work accreditation or why not become the best apprenticeship provider that there is in UK, and get that stamp of approval, or why not go and be an award winning brand or get the ISO and the top rating or, be the best at what you do.
[00:27:38] Lucy Rennie: That's what I don't, yeah, that's what I'd like to encourage you to do. And I think that's where I think there's so much possibility, so much potential for so many of you to really stand out from the crowd because you bloody good at what you do. And then finally, as a force for good, I think there's something about giving back to local community or giving back in general, whether that's volunteering.
[00:27:58] Lucy Rennie: So for example I'm a trustee on a charity board for the JCM Charitable Foundation, which is all about reducing poverty for children in the greater Manchester area. Previously I've been a trustee on High Peak Community Arts. And I've also, as you'll know, I've launched my Joining the Dots program, which is all about bridging the gap between the SME, between business and our young people.
[00:28:20] Lucy Rennie: Next generation of kids, of students who are, I want to help them to encounter and be inspired and see what's going on and tap into what they love and go and find out and, go and experience and do things that they love, but also, encourage them to go and
investigate.
[00:28:36] Lucy Rennie: What's going on in the different businesses and UK manufacturing and engineering and all those exciting things that maybe sometimes we get poop. They get poo because I don't know, cause for me it doesn't, I just, yeah I love all that kind of doing real things and making real things.
[00:28:50] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, all that to say, I could talk about this and there is an episode which I will put the link into, which tells you more about the Joining the Dots program and how you can actually get involved. But yeah, being a force for good, this is something that I massively believe in. And I think that's part of, why we have to encourage businesses, why we have to support them, why we have to do all that we can to allow people to to, yeah to create amazing places to work.
[00:29:14] Lucy Rennie: That way so that I can.
[00:29:15] Lucy Rennie: Improve on that. But it does make a massive difference and it's just about keeping promises. And sometimes that starts with yourself, doesn't it? It's those keeping your promises. If you say you're going to go to the gym or go for a run actually go and do the run, like I actually did it today.
[00:29:28] Lucy Rennie: I went for a massive run in the blustery gales that are blowing up here in Anglesey and it was gorgeous. But I'd been saying to. I told myself nearly all week that I was going to go and do it and it's only today that I finally did it. I just feel so much better for doing it. And with that in mind, number 13 is really important but it's about embracing being imperfectly perfect.
[00:29:47] Lucy Rennie: And again, what I mean by this is Building trust and goodwill doesn't mean you always have to get it right, doesn't mean you have to be perfect. And actually, if we take into account all the other different parts of the puzzle, being genuine, being vulnerable sometimes, being bringing that positive realism not just sharing the good stuff.
[00:30:07] Lucy Rennie: That imperfection is really important. It makes us relatable as well makes us, helps us to connect to other people. And sometimes actually getting something wrong. If something goes wrong
or you fail on something or there's, I don't know, something doesn't go to plan. The fact that you've got this trust and that goodwill allows you to either get the benefit of the doubt, but also just people are okay with that because it's how you deal with it.
[00:30:33] Lucy Rennie: So sometimes by being imperfect and getting it wrong, but actually showing that you're going above and beyond to turn it around and make sure that, you've fixed it or you've found a different solution or that you've been honest and owned up or you've shown up in the right way is, it's actually more powerful than getting it right every time and just being perfect on it all.
[00:30:50] Lucy Rennie: So actually let's embrace being imperfectly perfect and just really trying our hardest to do a good job. And then finally, number 14. And I think really actually Joe, we could probably, I think we might do that, but I think we'll probably split this. I'm just trying to work out how long I've been talking to you.
[00:31:07] Lucy Rennie: I think we'll do this in two parts. So this is the end of part two of this episode. And actually it's the final part, really number 14, which maybe I could start with at the top. And like I said to you, all of these different points, actually, I could definitely defend as in the most important is joy.
[00:31:23] Lucy Rennie: And I think there's something about actually being loving what you do and actually bringing the passion and really creating a shitload of tummy flips for yourself and for the people that you're working with or that you're selling to and getting them excited about what you're doing is massive and goes a long way in terms of building that trust and that goodwill because people can see that you really care.
[00:31:42] Lucy Rennie: Social proof and showing that actually sometimes I do know what I'm talking about.
[00:31:46] Lucy Rennie: But also I'm going to pop the link in because I'm going to be doing a masterclass on the 18th of April, Thursday evening at seven o'clock. And it's, I promise it's not a webinar where I'm going to sell to you at the end. It's literally me just updating people. I'm giving a little bit more of the behind the scenes on my book and.
[00:32:01] Lucy Rennie: Really thinking about the sort of what's going on in the world and giving people some tips, tricks some exercises, things to think about and a bit of a discussion as well, get some feedback in terms of what's going on and how as business owners and our teams, we can do all that we can to create brilliant places to work.
[00:32:18] Lucy Rennie: And so we're going to end this podcast episode here. I'm still in Anglesey. I hope you've been enjoying the show today. As you can tell, I'm really passionate about this topic. I think that building trust and goodwill for your brand is huge. But as you'll find out, I managed to record this episode as an hour long episode.
[00:32:34] Lucy Rennie: I know that with Joe, we're working hard to reduce these down a little bit to make them more accessible and not take up too much of your time each week. So we've split this in two. It's going to be a two part episode. So obviously. Tune in next week if you've just listened to this one, ready for part two and the second half of my invisible checklist my trust factor checklist.
[00:32:53] Lucy Rennie: But in the meantime, I would love if you found it interesting or you found it useful, or you think that somebody else might get some value from it, I'd love for you to share it with people, please. Subscribe to it if you can. But ultimately as well, help me with my social proof and building trust with my new listeners by leaving me a review and let me know what you think , I would really appreciate that.
[00:33:11] Lucy Rennie: In the meantime, as well, I'm going to add loads of different bits to the show notes, but I'm actually running a webinar on the 18th of April at seven o'clock, and I promise I'm not going to be selling you anything. It's literally just for me to be able to have a conversation with you guys to hear more about what you're up to but also to share a bit more.
[00:33:27] Lucy Rennie: About what's going on with consumer behavior, about what sort of people are expecting from brands, about what's going on in the world and update you. And also give you the talk you through the framework from my book, Clarity, Communication and Connection, three clear steps to future proof your business and just really, I'm on a mission to help people build amazing businesses and create a space where we can all love what we do and do what we love.
[00:33:47] Lucy Rennie: So thank you for listening. I'd love you. I'll put the link in the show notes for that. Come and sign up. It's completely free. It's just about having that conversation. It's going to be really interactive. And I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights and what's going on in your business right now as well.
[00:34:01] Lucy Rennie: So on that note, thanks for listening and tune in next week for part two of the 14 steps to your invisible trust checklist. Thanks very much. Take care.