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Lesson #1: Build Up the Trust Factor for Business

Article Overview: Building relationships is the key to successful sales, and at the heart of any strong relationship is the Trust Factor. Hines may have started his business late in life, but he worked hard at all of the little things over the years to build up a sense of trust between him and his customers. His reputation for honesty and reliability were two of the single most important ingredients in his recipe for success.

Lesson #1: Build Up the Trust Factor for Business

Building relationships is the key to successful sales, and at the heart of any strong relationship is the Trust Factor. Hines may have started his business late in life, but he worked hard at all of the little things over the years to build up a sense of trust between him and his customers. His reputation for honesty and reliability were two of the single most important ingredients in his recipe for success.

When Hines first began traveling across the country, it was a time of uncertainty in the food industry. Having just come out of the Great Depression and with the labour shortages of World War II, restaurants throughout the U.S. were suffering from poor standards of cleanliness and cooking. On top of that, knowledge about refrigeration and food safety was not widespread, and there were no national public health departments to monitor and regulate standards.

As a result, there was a large distrust from the public towards restaurants. People were not only concerned about finding a good meal, but a decent one that was not going to make them sick. So, when Hines came along with his reviews, which looked at both the quality of cleanliness and cooking, it was a relief to many Americans.

People across America trusted the Duncan Hines' recommendations. Why? Because Hines never accepted any paid endorsements from any restaurants for positive reviews. He insisted on inspecting a kitchen before he ate at it in order to judge its sanitation. If a restaurant refused his request to inspect, Hines would both refuse to eat there, and refuse to recommend it to others. Over time, the industry even gradually migrated towards maintaining Hines' standards or else risk losing his readers as their customers.

Even where Hines was allowed to inspect a restaurant's kitchen, he had no fear in writing what he really thought about a meal, once saying, "If the soup was as warm as the wine, if the wine was as old as the turkey, if the turkey had breasts like the maid, it would have been a fine dinner."

Hines insisted on the highest standards in order to maintain his readers' trust. From clean Ketchup bottles and sugar bowls, to "good butter, fresh eggs, rich milk and a loving touch," no detail was too small for Hines to overlook. He even dispensed advice to restaurant operators, telling them to polish their silverware, provide comfortable chairs and sharp knives, and use local produce.

"In small towns and along the highways the average restaurant was a place of dirty tablecloths, crankcase coffee and pork chops cooked to a cinder," said Hines. "After many years of eating my way around the country, I have concluded that the principal reason for looking at the average menu is to see what to avoid."

Hines became a trusted household name because of his honest approach and reviews of restaurants across the U.S. That is also why he was so easily able to launch a line of food products, based on his strong reputation alone.

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Article Tags: breasts, distrust, duncan hines, endorsements, food industry, food safety, great depression, honesty, labour shortages, national public health, public health departments, recipe for success, refrigeration, reliability, reputation, sanitation, standards of cleanliness, successful sales, uncertainty, world war ii



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Re: Great start, but no finish - My advise is FOCUS on your business. Focusing is the main factor to succeed on business. If you have a great idea, then follow it only, don't look anywhere else. It is especially essential in an online business. Because there are a lot of mind blowing sales letters promising millions dolllars or overnight success, people find it difficult to concentrate on one business and they lose their energy. Concept is simple. 1- Have a good idea; 2- Build your business on it; 3- Monetize your business; 4- Promote it; 5- Build list of responsive customers; 6- Maintain You Business. Focusing and not fearing from competition (instead you can learn from competitiors) are main tips of billionaires ,BTW. Orxan
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How do you know if you have a good idea? - [quote="orxan":3118uboz]My advise is FOCUS on your business. Focusing is the main factor to succeed on business. If you have a great idea, then follow it only, don't look anywhere else. It is especially essential in an online business. Because there are a lot of mind blowing sales letters promising millions dolllars or overnight success, people find it difficult to concentrate on one business and they lose their energy. Concept is simple. 1- Have a good idea; 2- Build your business on it; 3- Monetize your business; 4- Promote it; 5- Build list of responsive customers; 6- Maintain You Business. Focusing and not fearing from competition (instead you can learn from competitiors) are main tips of billionaires ,BTW. Orxan[/quote:3118uboz] Thanks orxan! But how do you know if you truly have a good idea or not? If we ask ourselves, we may be suffering from tunnel vision. On the other hand, friends/family may try to discourage us from pursuing a small business because of their own fears, while others will simply give us an empty "you can do it!" line.
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vigilance Trust An ability to DELEGATE


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