It?s very important for you to have core values, both as a person and as an entrepreneur. As a person, core values help keep you ethical and ensure that you always do what you think is the best option in life.
As an entrepreneur, they do something very similar, and by sticking with these core values, you?ll be able to attract a very dedicated audience and clientele. First, you should figure out what your core values are.
If you don?t know what core values are at all, they?re things like integrity, honesty, loyalty, responsibility, and so on. When you have one or more of these as one of your core values, you should stick to it no matter what.
Core values are those that you don?t change or budge on, which lends a greater sense of consistency and trustworthiness to you from a customer?s standpoint. Once you know what?s important to you, you have to stick with it no matter what.
If you?re inconsistent in your values, or if you?re not always honest when you should be, customers will notice. At that point, you?re more likely to attract customers that are a bit more shifty themselves, those that may not honor agreements or will try to take advantage of you.
However, by showing that you are consistently honest and truthful, you?ll attract more dedicated clientele that don?t like having to take chances on other businesses that they don?t know.
If they know you, and they know that they can trust you, and you?ve shown them time and time again that they can do that, then they?re much more likely to stick with you and recommend you to their friends.
Nobody wants to deal with untrustworthy vendors, and you may feel the same even as a business owner yourself. You wouldn?t want to eat at a restaurant that lied to you about their ingredients, because you don?t know what else they?re lying about.
The same thing applies to all businesses. If a customer or a client can?t trust you to uphold your word on one thing, then they can?t trust you on other things, either. The key to a healthy customer-business relationship is trust. The burden of proof is on you to show your customer that they can trust you, and it?s also up to you to not break or abuse that trust.