Do you tell the truth even if the truth is ugly? What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t know is that a company's integrity can make or break its success. The integrity of your business can lead to flourishing sales or crippling failure.
The Meaning of Business Integrity
What does having “business integrity” mean to you? If you look in the dictionary, it will tell you that integrity means:
- Honesty.
- Transparency.
- Accountability.
- Having sound principles.
- Being morally upright.
Businesses with integrity have shared values and morals. These values dictate their actions in everything from the smallest company decisions to how their decision-making framework for complex plans and projects. These same actions that show their character, build trust with their stakeholders, and build trust with their team members and customers alike.
The Importance of Business Integrity
Many business owners and entrepreneurs alike ask if business integrity is critical for the success or failure of a business. To grow your customer base and generate new sales, you need to earn the trust of your audience and your customers.
If you don’t have good business integrity, your customers aren’t going to trust you.
If they don’t trust you, they’re not going to buy from you.
If they don’t trust you or buy from you, you will lose sales and referral business.
Putting your business’s integrity on the backburner is going to lead to poor customer and client service, low-quality products, and no loyalty from your team members and employees.
What Business Integrity Looks Like in Action
If you haven’t spoken with your team about company values and why business integrity is important, it’s a conversation you need to have. Sit down with your team and discuss:
- The key values you want to embody in your business.
- Why you choose those key values.
- How those values support the mission and integrity of your business.
After you decide or identify your business values, you have to decide what your values look like in action. Think of some of the primary ways business’s showcase their integrity, including:
- Making good on your commitments.
- Being transparent and honest with your customers.
- Holding yourself accountable for your actions.
- Sticking to a strong, consistent moral code.
- Treat your team and customers with respect.
When you operate honestly, consistently, and transparently, you set yourself, your business, employees, and clients up for ultimate success. If you are a business owner or entrepreneur and want to learn more about business integrity, join us over on the Built for Brilliance Facebook page.