Be Honest and Transparent and You Will Be Unique

Yesterday I received an email from a gentleman I met through a Boston University alumni event. I was class of 1991; he was  class of 2007. He told me that he and a partner were going to set up a Web Marketing company and asked if I had any advice for him. Ah, the young seeking advice from the old ... but in my case, not so much the old as the experienced. My initial reaction was, "poor young grasshopper ... why on Earth would you want to start a web company? And why now in 2010?" But then I thought about the day I started Imagistic with my partners. We knew nothing about the Web - it was 1997 - no one knew anything. But there were a lot of small companies out there trying to figure it out and the competition was fierce. So what we needed to do was figure out what made us unique.  What could we do to make people take notice of us? After 13 years I have hundreds, if not thousands, of stories to tell about customers, projects and employees, but there is one core tenet that I passed on to my fellow Terrier. Be Honest and Transparent and You Will Be Unique I am in no way a business expert or qualified to teach at an MBA program. But I do know what it takes to run a successful company; and that is happy and satisfied customers. On that fateful day in 1997 my partners and I decided that supplying exceptional customer service was the thing that would make us different. And 13 years later we continue to do so. With over 95% of our business being either repeat or based on referrals, it is our personal touch that sets us apart. And how do we do that? By being honest and transparent with our clients. Don't ever lie to a client - they will know it, and in the end, it hurts you more than it could have ever helped you. You gain trust and respect by admitting your defeats and your faults. There are always solutions to every problem. Realize that and you will not only have happy clients, you will have a very successful company.