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When you own your own business you are in it for the long haul. There’s no such thing as working 9-5, you are automatically, by default, on the clock 24X7X365. The feeling of responsibility that comes with being the one to sign the paychecks for employees, knowing that many are sole breadwinners for their own families can be overwhelming and lead to many a sleepless night.

So what do you do? You build relationships, you nurture staff, you set goals, and put every ounce of energy you can muster into creating an environment in which the people you hire can thrive and your customers can trust the business to deliver.

At their core, all relationships are based on trust. A basic agreement that each party will treat the other with respect and uphold their end of the bargain. For the employer this means that when employees show up and do their work, they get paid. For the customer it means when they place an order, the material they need will arrive where and when it is promised, and in return, the customer will pay the company so the company can pay their employees!

So how do we go about building trust?

Step one is communication. Establishing a flow of information in which both parties feel comfortable and can understand exactly what is expected of them is essential. Using documents such as a new project setup worksheet to tease out any special challenges present in the job, and shared scheduling tools to keep everyone in the loop when dates shift, go a long way towards ensuring project success. Text messages, email and telephone, though, are still the main vehicles for day to day exchanges, so we put a heavy emphasis on technology to ensure our ability to receive those updates.

Step two is adding value. Distributors are challenged to find ways in which to add value to the material they move from point a to point b. Our customers have their choice of suppliers and are savvy enough to know the difference between a company that consistently offers the lowest price but fails to deliver the right material as promised, from the one that is competitively priced, but also manages to save them time and money by guiding them towards better product, product incentives and/or rebates where applicable, and by offering value added services such as offsite material prep and staging/phasing.

Step three is consistency. Putting the people and processes in place to be able to repeat successes and learn from mistakes to provide a reliable, consistent level of service to all customers on all jobs is key to building the brand and customer loyalty. More than any other survey question response we received from our “Give us Love of Give us Hell!” survey, the one we appreciated most was the fact that more than 9 out of 10 customers would recommend us to other contractors…that kind of says it all…

At the end of the day, it is our family name that is on the line. Paramont EO and Crest Lighting is less likely to become a branch of a Mega Corporation than it is to be the joint venture of the next generation of Gallaghers and Cunninghams.