The trust level in Corporate America is at an all-time low, and suspicion of all things corporate is on rise. Clients and prospects are in search of trust in their business relationships. Although people do business with other people they know and trust, building trust and credibility does not happen overnight.

What is trust? Trust can be defined as a firm belief in honesty of another and absence of suspicion regarding his motives or practices. The concept of trust in business dealings is simple: Build on an individual’s confidence in you and eliminate fear as an operating principle.

To cultivate trust, take risk of being open with clients and prospects. This enables them to perceive you as a real person—one with strengths and weaknesses that come into play as relationship develops. When trust is reciprocal, you will find that your confidence in others is rewarded by their support and reinforcement of what you also stand for as a business entity.

Letting Go of Fear

Let go of fear, which restricts your ability to relate to others. Letting go frees you of behavioral constraints that can immobilize your emotional and professional development. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being hurt, fear of unknown—all these are roadblocks to developing and growing a trusting relationship with clients. Let go of your fear of losing an account or not having right answers. Leave all your fears at client or prospect’s doorstep.

Other critical steps in cultivating trust are knowing who you are and knowing your potential value to your clients. The relationship that forms because of this can have a tremendous impact on your sales. People don’t just buy from anyone. They buy from people they can trust. The rapport and credibility you can establish with trust factor go a long way toward building a client’s confidence in your ability to meet his business needs.

Trust has both an active and a passive component in a business relationship. The active feeling of trust is confidence in leadership, veracity, and reliability of other party, based on a track record of performance.

The passive feeling of trust is absence of worry or suspicion. This absence is sometimes unrecognized and frequently taken for granted in our most productive relationships.

Building Trust With Care

There’s an old adage; “Perception is reality”. Simply stated, perception of a brand lies in its ability to influence a client’s behavior. When you have successfully branded your business, in client’s eye there is no service in marketplace quite like your service.

All consulting businesses should have a distinct, sustainable, and competitive advantage to differentiate their services from competition. I call this process of identifying your advantage “Brand Your Consulting Brilliance”.

Here are six simple steps to brand and differentiate your services in current business environment.

1. Think client focus first.

The client’s reality: Consulting businesses exist to serve clients. Develop a client visitation calendar and schedule in-person visits. Look client in eye and say, “I am here to serve you.” Follow up and follow through on all client related matters in a timely manner.

Create a client questionnaire so clients can rate performance of your services. You want them to tell you how you’re doing and what you can do to serve them better. It’s also a way to discover what challenges they are currently facing. Be relentless in your client retention efforts.

2. Discover a distinct advantage that will set you apart from competitors.

Start by articulating your “unique marketing proposition”, a statement of all of qualities and characteristics that set your services apart in marketplace. Analyze your services: What skills and services do we provide that are distinctive, measurable, and add value? Which of our past successes can we leverage in marketplace? And don’t forget to ask colleagues what they see as your competitive strengths.