Trust is the structural underpinning of business collaboration. Our customers put their trust in us daily. They are confident 
we have their backs. They believe in the core collaborative competencies we bring to their business tables, whether these are technical, engineering, marketing, sales, finance, you name it. No matter whether you are the CEO of a startup or the Owner of an established small business.
Business collaboration boils down to having trust in one’s colleagues. Our value propositions rarely mention the word “trust.” Yet when we confidently deliver these phrases to investors and prospects, trust should be implicit in our message.
Do you lead your business development and business collaboration from a position of trust?
Fluctuations in the global economy and business ecosystem require that Owners put their trust in someone who is firmly at the helm of business development. Can you confidently negotiate these rough waters, steering towards the horizon? Are you the go-to person for business collaboration for your customers? Within your organization?
Ultimately, your customers and funders are investing in you. They are investing from a position of trust and confidence in you.
Lead from a position of trust, when you build a solid platform of business collaboration. You gradually become the physical embodiment of this trust: the value that your products, services, platforms or disruptive technologies represent to the marketplace.
Business collaboration based on trust allows you to anticipate and overcome buyer skepticism. There is no opportunity for decision makers to tell you “So What?” when you lead from a position of trust, as well.
Leading business collaboration from a position of trust obligates you to always do your best and to advocate on behalf of your customers and colleagues. Value is implicit from this trust-based springboard.
In the best of all possible worlds, leading business collaboration from a position of trust would be the status quo. You and I know this is hardly the case.
That’s why it’s a differentiator.
There’s nothing artificial or manipulative when you lead business collaboration from a position of trust. In making a series of agreements with yourself, and asking for a series of commitments from your customers, you are doing nothing short of leading from your heart.
Babette N. Ten Haken, Founder & President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, brings entrepreneurial mojo and business- and revenue-producing collaboration and communication tools to small and mid-sized businesses and startups.
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