Thursday, November 26, 2009

Trust: Do business with a friend or with the guy at the Mall?

Trust means reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing; confidence. Trust has many meanings but let's stick with this one for the purpose of this article.

Trust is a hugh thing in our lives and it is one of those important things that can easily be overlooked. It is enthrusted in all aspects of our lives and it is the foundation for meaningful and successful relationships. When it comes to business relationships, some claim that it is better to do business with a trusted friend (or family member), and others feel it is better to do business with the unknown guy down at the mall. Now that you know the bone of contention here, do you have an opinion about it?

Let's say your friend is involved in my line of business: provides home phones (VoIP), cell phones (from all major cellular providers in the U.S.), satellite TV, broadband internet and home security systems, for the same price (sometimes cheaper) as you'd have them at the shop or dealers store. Would you get your services from him/her? Or would you prefer to go to the dealers store?

In business relationships, would you completely trust your friend or family member? Your decision would probably be based on how well you know the friend and whether he/she is licensed to provide the goods and services you need. Your decision would also probably be based on whether you want to support the business venture or not.

I agree that we feel safe doing business the way we're used to. If you're used to going down to the mall or to the dealers store to get your goods or services, you'd find it hard to make the first move to get the same goods or services (even at a cheaper rate) from an independent representative. But just like you took that first chance to do business with an unknown guy at the mall or dealers store, I believe you can take another chance to do business with a trusted friend. Life is about taking one chance after another.

Doing business with the guy down at the mall is a risk we all take and I know if it wasn't for the fact that we so desperately need the goods and services we buy, we would probably not dare to take a chance on someone we just met at the mall.

I encourage you to follow your gut feeling. Do not be pressured to do business with anyone (be it a friend, family member or the guy at the mall). But always make sure you don't strain your relationships. Try as much as possible to make your friend or family member understand why you'd rather do business with the unknown guy at the mall. The choice remains yours. For me, I'd rather do business with a trusted friend or family member than with the unknown guy at the mall.

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