How to add integrity to your business relationships

In the information age there is a golden opportunity to make business transactions so much more than a straight exchange of goods or services for money.

When you forge a relationship with a client, and deliver to them a great product or legendary service, the other thing that is generated from the transaction is good will.

Wise business owners know that this is a powerful energetic force that can drive referrals, recommendations and rave reviews – and they harness it by requesting testimonials, success stories and case studies based on their customers’ experience. These accounts then become the tangible evidence of the integrity of their offering.

It is not the material exchange which is meaningful to others, but the story you create as a result. And the story works not only to promote your goods and services but also to raise the profile of your client’s business and add your weight to their proposition.

This feels satisfyingly wholesome; the commercial equivalent of ‘paying it forward’, except in this case it’s about feeding back information that benefits your business and your client together – as well as attracting new prospects for both.

So in the spirit of good will I must mention my gratitude to Andy Holt of OSX, whose astute observation that case studies ‘add integrity to business relationships’ provided the inspiration for this blog post. Thank you.