In today's society one would have to wonder where did ethics go? It would seem that unsavory conduct is the norm. All you have to do is watch the evening news to hear about the next corporate scandal or the politicians that are skimming profits off of some business deal under the table, or the local boy scout leader taking advantage of the boys under his charge. Where did the morals of this country go?
What are ethics? According to Webster's Dictionary, Ethics is"the system of moral values; the principal of right or good conduct". When one is doing business of any kind, professional or personal, ethical conduct should be first and foremost. Your customers should know that you put their best interest first. Is that not what we expect when we do business with someone? As a consumer, don't we expect our business acquaintances to put our best interest first?
When you convey the feeling of honesty and when you can make your customers feel special, you will draw them back to you. They will look to you for products and information, because they feel they can trust you. Trust is so under rated, we throw the word around but never take the time to really think about what it means. According to Webster's Dictionary the definition of trust is"Confidence or faith, in a person or thing".
Confidence; are your customers confident in you? That should be a question we all ask ourselves? Are your customers confident that you are an honest business person? Are they confident you will not cheat them or mislead them in your business dealings? Are they confident that you will put their best interest first and think of their needs above your profit? Confidence=trust=faith. If your customers are confident in you ,they will trust you and then they will have faith in you to lead them into the right direction for making quality business decisions.
But the first time someone you trust breaks that trust, you never forget it. It stays with you for a very long time if not forever. If a customer feels the trust between you has been broken through something you have done in your business dealings with them, then you have lost a customer. Losing customers to unethical business practices is business suicide. People share among themselves their experiences and if they have in countered unethical practices from you, those experiences are detrimental to your business reputation. When one person tells another that they have had bad experience with your company, the other person always believes them, even if they are strangers. Words have power and you want only good positive words spoken about your business. It is nearly impossible to heal business wounds created by unethical business practices.
In business it is imperative to always have above board business practices. Always treat your customers as you would what to be treated. Yes, the golden rule still works, " Do unto others as you would have others to do unto you." Always be ethical and honest and your customers will know they can trust you and you will have return sales.
Sue Burke is a weight loss consultant. If you'd like to have more information you can link on to her webpage at: http://www.walkingrichlivingthin.biz
