It seems like everyone wants to know the secret to success.  Is it skill?  Work ethic?  Tenacity?  Mindfulness?

Actually, it’s none of the above.  If you’re asking me, it’s TRUST.  Are you WHO you say you are and will you DO what you say you will, and will you do it WHEN you say you will?  The formula looks like this:

Reliability + Consistency = Trust

Reliability means I can depend on you:

• You show up when you say you will.
• You perform the way you tell me you will.
• You perform to a high level and exceed my high expectations.

Consistency means you are predictably dependable:

• You’ll be on time.
• You’ll Always be on time.
• You’ll perform to the same standards of excellence each time.

When you do these consistently, I won’t worry anymore.  In other words, I TRUST you.

It seems simple but it’s not.  When you get let down enough times, you lose trust and begin to get skeptical.

I get lots of calls and email from people who want to meet with me to network, “pick my brain,” or just talk.  I don’t mind these but will absolutely drive me crazy are no-shows, particularly since I live in way out in the country and this means I travel at least an hour to the areas of Middle Tennessee where most people live.  What kills me?  No-shows.  It’s happened enough times that I’m skeptical.  When somebody does show, I’m almost surprised.  Of course learning the hard way, I have my assistant now call the day before to verify the appointment.  I just don’t trust folks as much anymore.

I’m a huge fan of National Car Rental.  As a frequent traveler, it makes me happy to just hit the lot, pick any car and go.  I won’t rent from anyone else, least of which the parent company of National, Enterprise.

But sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Enterprise has older, dirty cars and a rental system that requires you to wait in line, sign in, wait to be escorted to your car, walked around it to look for damage, and then allowed to leave.  It reminds me of being at the doctor’s office.  They are notoriously unreliable to be on time (for pickup) or for having your rental ready (much like the classic Seinfeld episode “we have your  reservation Mr. Seinfeld, unfortunately, we ran out of cars.”)  Well unfortunately they are also the contracted rental company from USAA, my insurance company.

A few months ago I was hit by another drive while in business in Tunica, MS.  I dropped my car at the body shop in Erin, TN and was supposed to have the Enterprise people meet me there with my rental car.  I had a bad feeling about it based on past experience but went ahead and trusted they’d be there.  Sure enough, they were a no-show.  I called the office and they told me it would be at least 2 hours.  Unacceptable. After some assertive leveraging from me, they were there in 45 minutes.  But since this already fed my negative perception, I vowed never to use them again.  Tweets to customer service yielded nothing but a canned reply (which I used previously resulting in no resolution) suggesting that this was standard practice.

The moral of the story?  Trust is key.  I trust National, not Enterprise.  I trust you once you make your appointment with me, but NEVER if you miss it.

So if you want to be successful in your business or your job, be trustworthy.  Remember:

Reliability + Consistency = Trust