Build Trust With a Few Keystrokes

Facebook. LinkedIn. Twitter. Email. Snail mail. Cell phone. Land line. It’s enough stimulation to make anybody crazy. But crazy or not, we are very often obliged to respond.

Now, some of this stuff is drivel and you can ignore it without much consequence. Friend requests from the guy you never liked in high school, tweets about god-knows-what, and the ever-present offers from your insurance agent can immediately drop off your radar.

But clients, vendors, referral sources, and colleagues — those who are directly and indirectly responsible for your success — deserve a response. To ignore them is to insult them, even if you didn’t mean to. So when you don’t have an answer to their question or concern immediately, it is wise to leave a voice mail or email, anyway. Try these words: “I got your message. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know something.”

When you don’t respond or delay your response for too long, the person who contacted you may make negative assumptions: He hates me. I did a bad job. She’s always been a jerk. I never did like her, anyway. Loss of trust in your relationship, and therefore in you, ensues. It makes sense to avoid losing that trust…unless you really don’t care about the relationship.

Even when you are swarmed by emails, phone calls, etc., take a deep breath, prioritize the messages, then set about the task of responding with all deliberate haste. Your communicators will trust you all the more for your quick response, and it’ll be one more thing crossed off your list.