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Technology can be a daunting investment for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Between the initial cost and the time and effort it takes to maintain and keep up with technology, it’s little wonder why so many SMBs are hesitant to invest in it. However, when done correctly, technology can be a powerful trust-building tool for SMBs. By having reliable technologies, you can build trust among your people, processes and customers. This trust can result in better outcomes for your company, including job satisfaction, employee and customer retention, innovation and your bottom line. It’s important to remember that to use technology to build trust, you first need to concentrate your efforts on these key areas: Pay attention to these aspects To make the most of your technology to build trust with customers, employees and other stakeholders, your business should focus on the following: Reputation Are you using technology from well-known and trusted vendors? Using technology that is already known and trusted in the marketplace can help you build a trustworthy reputation. Borrow from their trustworthiness to boost your own. Security Organizational data breaches have become increasingly common in recent years, with world events making the situation worse. Protecting customer and employee data is critical to building trust. Make sure you have ironclad measures in place to keep sensitive information secure. User experience Technology and processes can be harnessed to create trust-building foundations among employees, customers and partners. For example, integrating technologies can save time and serve as a reliable foundation. Inefficient or incompatible technologies can create chaos and confusion, damaging productivity. If you take the time to select and integrate the right technologies, it can make all the difference. Similarly, thoughtful processes that consider the user experience can reduce confusion and opportunities for conflict and make it easier for employees to work with you. Conflicts arise when an individual’s expectations do not match the actual experience. Thoughtful processes can help ensure that everyone’s expectations are met, minimizing the chances of a conflict. Backups, disaster recovery and incident response “Trust, but verify” should always be your motto. Do you currently have a way to verify that your data backups are working properly? A managed service provider (MSP) can help you verify that your backups are reliable and will work in the event of an incident, delivering a more consistent experience to employees and customers alike. Compliance Is your business compliant with data privacy regulations? Before assuming you are, make sure with a solid foundation (like the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework or NIST CSF) and routine reporting that measures compliance. Protecting customer data is a great way to build trust. Flexibility Remote and hybrid work has become more and more popular over the last several years, and is a trend that isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Offering employees the flexibility to work from different locations is a great way to build trust and loyalty with your organization – which can, in turn, improve the customer experience. However, you’ll need to make sure you have the necessary technologies in place to ensure that employees can work safely and provide top-notch service remotely. Partner for success Since trust-building can be so difficult for SMBs to handle on their own, collaborating with an MSP like us is your best option for success. We can help with tasks like disaster recovery, compliance, security and much more. By working with an MSP like us, you can concentrate on your day-to-day operations and big-picture business goals, safe in the knowledge that your customers’ data is secure. Feel free to reach out and schedule a no-obligation consultation. To dig deeper into the topic, download our checklist titled “How SMBs Can Build or Repair Trust” by clicking here.   Syndicated article curated and used with permission.

The world has become a less trusting place. A recent study by the Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust in business, media, government and NGOs has reached an all-time low. The study also revealed that trust levels are divided along generational lines, with millennials displaying the lowest levels of trust. This can have far-reaching consequences, including decreased investment, creativity and job creation. Shockingly, this trend was consistent across different countries and cultures. As a business, you must do everything possible to counteract this tide. Building trust throughout your organization can improve job satisfaction, employee and customer retention, innovation and your bottom line. While trust-building may appear simple, you must be aware of a few things before your business embarks on a trust-building journey. Say ‘no’ to these when it comes to trust-building When building trust with customers and other crucial stakeholders, some businesses unknowingly do things that damage trust. Here are some of the most common mistakes: Preventing disagreement A company is, at its core, a group of people attempting to accomplish a common goal, and proper communication is essential for that. You must understand that disagreement is a normal part of open conversations. Honest and constructive discussions cannot occur if individuals are not willing to disagree with one another. Therefore, make a psychologically secure space for people to discuss the drawbacks of a proposal. While it may cause tension, it is far healthier in the long run. Breach of promises Being true to your word plays a critical role in the workplace, from motivating employees and building trust to facilitating better communication. Therefore, breaking promises to employees can have long-term, harmful consequences. When trust is broken, it becomes difficult for employees to feel secure in their roles and put forth their best effort. Employees who don’t trust their employer are more likely to be uninterested in their work and often start hunting for other jobs. Remember, promising employees state-of-the-art technology and then providing them with shoddy technology is unwise and can cause employee frustration or attrition. Micromanagement Rules and regulations in the workplace often exist for a reason – to ensure that employees are productive and safe and your customers get the high-quality service you promise them. However, when these rules become too restrictive and prevent employees from being innovative or taking risks, they can have the opposite effect. For a company to be successful, it’s better to share the end goal and trust workers to use their skillsets, logic and experience. Improper communication No matter what is going on with your business, whether it’s good or bad, sharing it with employees builds trust. Employees need to be able to trust their employer for a healthy and productive workplace to exist. Businesses that keep information hidden from their employees are often seen as untrustworthy and secretive. Instead of holding onto information, share it with your team. They’ll appreciate your transparency and will be more likely to trust you. Assuming trust in a scattered workforce The modern workplace is evolving. With a more distributed workforce and the growth of hybrid work, people are more scattered than ever before. While this can be a great thing for productivity and creativity, it can also lead to a lack of trust if not managed well. It takes time to build a trusting relationship. Therefore, a proactive business must be ready to set aside the time or effort needed for trust-building. Say ‘yes’ to the seven elements of trust Trust is essential in any relationship. Employees and customers need to be able to trust that an organization is competent and dependable. Organizations need to be able to trust their employees and stakeholders to act with integrity and empathy. According to Forrester Research, there are seven levers you can use to build trust: accountability, consistency, competence, dependability, empathy, integrity and transparency. While each organization may place different values on these attributes, they are all essential. Deciphering each of the attributes and putting them into practice may require time, effort and skillsets that you may not be able to devote. Consider collaborating with a managed IT service provider (MSP) like us who can take care of such matters while you concentrate on your business. To deep dive into the concept, download our eBook titled “Trust Matters: SMBs Can Prosper by Prioritizing Trust-Building.” Get it here.   Syndicated article curated and used with permission.

There is a strong connection between trust and prosperity. In fact, when trust levels are high, businesses tend to grow faster. According to McKinsey and Company, Harvard Business Review, Forrester Research and many other reputable organizations, trust is the connecting fabric upon which innovation and business success are built. You might think that trust-building isn’t crucial for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), but it is critical if you want to achieve your business objectives and keep your employees and customers satisfied. While you might not expect a technology company like ours to discuss trust, we care about your business objectives and believe it is essential for your people, processes and technology. Building trust is essential for any organization, whether it’s a startup or a Fortune 500 company. It gives employees the confidence to take chances and innovate, gives customers the confidence to buy from and collaborate with you, and gives partners the confidence to do business with you. But how do you create a foundation for trust? Leverage processes and technology Building trust is not easy, and it often takes time and effort to develop. Luckily, there are a few things companies can do to succeed. Integrate technologies Technology integration is one of the most important considerations for businesses today. Not only do neatly integrated technologies save time and serve as a reliable foundation, they can also reduce friction within your company. Inefficient or incompatible technologies can create chaos and confusion, slowing down workflows and damaging productivity. If you take the time to select and integrate the right technologies, it can make all the difference in terms of organizational efficiency and success. Deploy thoughtful processes Thoughtful processes that consider the user experience can reduce confusion and opportunities for conflict and make it easier for employees to work for you. Friction arises when an individual’s expectations do not match the actual experience. When this occurs, it can lead to conflict as people attempt to shift responsibility or blame. Thoughtful processes can help ensure that everyone’s expectations are met, minimizing the chances of a conflict. Secure data When it comes to organizational data breaches, customers and employees are quick to lose trust in companies that can’t protect their sensitive data. Implementing measures to secure your customer and employee data is one way to help rebuild trust. In doing so, you are not only protecting your customers and employees, but also your bottom line. Volkswagen Group of America recently confirmed a data breach that occurred in 2021.* The data breach, which affected approximately three million customers, resulted in the theft of customer names, email addresses and vehicle identification numbers. The company had to spend a lot of money on recovery, but how many SMBs can afford that? What’s more concerning is that the Volkswagen data breach is just the latest in a long series of cybersecurity incidents, with more likely to follow in the coming years. Choose the right partner Since trust-building can be so challenging for SMBs to handle alone, collaborating with a managed service provider (MSP) like us is the best option. MSPs can help with tasks such as disaster recovery, compliance, security and much more. Working with an MSP such as us will allow you to concentrate on your core competencies, safe in the knowledge that your customers’ data is secure. Feel free to reach out for a no-obligation consultation. To dig deeper into the topic, download our infographic titled “Why Businesses Should Make Trust-Building a Priority” by clicking here. Syndicated article curated and used with permission. * Reuters

While you would not expect a technology company to discuss topics such as trust, we’re not like most managed service providers (MSPs). We understand how technology affects trust and impacts your people, processes and bottom line. That’s why we’re here to show you how to leverage trust to achieve your organizational goals. When we talk about trust in the technology industry, we usually mean zero trust. While that’s an equally important topic, it isn’t the topic of discussion here. In this blog post, we’ll concentrate on how technology and processes can help your business build trust with employees and customers. According to Forrester Research, trust is confidence in the high probability that a person or organization will spark a specific positive outcome in a relationship. Roadmap to trust-building Since trust has a significant impact on the future course of your business, take extra care while nurturing it. Consider the following six actions when striving to improve organizational trust with employees, customers and other stakeholders. 1. Place extra emphasis on trust-building Without a strong level of trust that supports collaboration and innovation, no firm can achieve long-term success. The most effective leaders foster an environment where employees feel free to discuss the latest, groundbreaking topics. 2. Understand the concept of trust from both inside and outside the company Trust can only be fostered inside the organization if the leadership is competent and has the employees’ best interests at heart. Employees must feel as if they are part of a team working toward a common goal. Transparency can earn trust from the perspective of an outsider. This entails being honest, open and accountable. 3. Determine stakeholders to build trust with Your target stakeholders should be the ones who care about your product or service. They might be customers, clients, employees or partners. Once you’ve identified your target stakeholders, it’s crucial to understand what they want from you. Then, it’s time to reach out to them with the intention of trust-building in a way that resonates with them. 4. Express trust quantitatively To begin quantifying trust, start by answering the following questions: What are the criteria and elements that go into deciding whether or not to trust someone? In a given scenario or relationship, how much trust is there? What factors contribute to increased or decreased trust? 5. Proactively invest in building, mending and improving trust Investments made to strengthen trust must be seen as an investment for the future. This is because the benefits of safeguarding and nurturing trust extend beyond the company’s internal operations to its relationships with customers and other external partners. 6. Realize that trust management is not a one-time exercise The digital world has introduced a new challenge for businesses of all sizes: trust management. For leaders, this means an ongoing effort to assess and rebuild trust, sometimes from the ground up. This may seem like a daunting task, but it is inevitable and something that businesses must proactively undertake. Are you confused about where to begin? Many businesses do not value trust-building without realizing that it can make or break their organizations. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) must strive to build trust among their customers, employees and partners to survive and thrive. However, keep in mind that even a careless mistake can damage trust, and when it happens, it can be difficult for a small business to bounce back. This is where an expert MSP like us can help. Our expertise and knowledge can smoothly guide you on the path of trust-building. Reach out for a no-obligation consultation today. Additionally, to learn more about the topic, feel free to download our eBook titled “Trust Matters: SMBs Can Prosper by Prioritizing Trust-Building” by clicking here. Syndicated article curated and used with permission.  

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