THE TRUST FACTOR

I was given a signed copy of the publication “The Trust Factor" on 20 February 2015 by Anton Swanepoel with the inscription...

" Beste Kobus, baie dankie vir jou bydrae tot ons Industrie. Mag jy geseend wees"... Anton Swanepoel.

Receiving this accolade from a well-respected industry expert on its own meant a lot to me as person and certified financial planner but what I was unaware of was the value of the incredible book I received on the day and how it would impact on some of my thinking with regards to the subject matter.

I have now worked through the book during my travels when I normally have time on long flights. The book is obviously about Trust which arguably is the single most important ingredient that impacts on the sustainability of your success in business or your practice. The word itself may be a short word in format but a word that makes all the difference and is incredibly profound once you work through his book.

Wessel Oosthuizen from the  FPI (and previously UFS) always refer to Trust as one of the cornerstones of long term financial planning with the other two being knowledge and relationships and after reading this profound book I have to agree 100 % with Wessel and Anton.

Anton in this book also refer to the “guru" Steven Covey who wrote the book “The Speed of Trust" which inspired his own book. These two books between the authors highlight and explain the timeless fundamentals which have laid the foundation of Trust between people over centuries and it is clear that if we apply these principles consistently across our lives that we should be very successful over the long term. 

It is profound that the concept of trust drives so many things in our lives and when we see it in action it inspires us and can be life-changing if you in any type of relationships with people where a high level of trust exists and which we can treasure. To pass on the gift of trust takes it all to a much higher level.

Zig Ziglar stated “they buy-if they trust" and after reading this book it has become so much clearer how right Zig really was. We have to however always remember to .... make a client is much more important than making a sale!

I found this formula on trust very cleverly put together:

Trust = Competence + Communication + Connections + Commitment + Character + Consistency + confidence / divide by Self-Interest.

Ken Blanchard once wrote “Despite our best intentions, at one time or another all of us break trust with others." How we go about restoring and rebuilding trust when things do go wrong is achieved through taking action quickly with care and understanding and absolute commitment while finding common ground and admitting mistakes with sincere apologies and a strategy how to overcome the trust breach impact with a clear demonstration that it will not happen again and follow through by doing what must be done.

I believe many of us got to know Anton Swanepoel as a FAIS expert and trusted CFP who is also a well-respected author and trainer on topics of leadership, business management, ethics, compliance and investment planning with involvement on various affiliation and associations committees within the financial services industry, but I believe after reading this book that Anton is indeed an expert on the topic of TRUST and his quote ...." The Fundamentals of Trust are Life-Changing"  is certainly profound.

Thank you Anton for sharing your book with me in a special manner and I have learned so many other sides of Trust which I was not aware of and which I certainly will practice going forward.

Kobus Kleyn CFP