Whether you know it or not your reputation is bankable.
“Because of the nature of this business your customers will know you better than you know yourself sometimes,” says Dave Columbus, director of national sales for Cornwell Quality Tools. “They see what you do every week, they come to know you.”
“You might think that you’re a hard worker and you’re consistent and you’re there every week but they really know,” Columbus continues. “So you need to be transparent in your integrity because your customers see it and they remember what you said last week and the week before that.”
If it lines up they trust you. And the tool business is all based on mutual trust.
“The root word for integrity is integrated or integral,” Columbus explains. “I think what that means is that your actions need to be integrated with your words. You can talk a good game, but if you don’t follow through with your actions then people see through it.”
Your actions have to match up with your words.
