You can’t help people if you don’t build trust

Right before the pandemic, I was asked to conduct a site assessment by one of my clients. The twist here is that it wasn’t for one of their own plants. Rather, they wanted me to assist one of their key suppliers, who was a co-packer (someone who packages and labels products for its clients and sometimes manufactures products using the clients’ brand). I should have seen the warning signs sooner.

The evening before the assessment, I attended dinner with a team from my client’s company. We had a good discussion about how the next day would go, but I got a vibe that they were skeptical of my ability to assist their vendor. My sponsor hadn’t traveled with the rest of the team.

The next morning, we met with the vendor in their conference room. I waited for my client to start the meeting, but they decided I should do it. I jumped right in, made introductions, and described my site assessment process. We would talk about any current or critical issues they were experiencing, then take a Gemba walk to see the process and the issues as they were occurring. Finally, I would share my findings and explain how I could help resolve any of the issues.

The vendor team didn’t look thrilled to have visitor(s) they didn’t know, and spoke about their issues in a vague way. Then, they reluctantly assigned two team members to walk around the plant with me: the plant manager and an engineer. One of the client’s team members joined us for most of the tour.

As we walked around the plant, I tried to point out helpful improvements that could be implemented without outside assistance. For example, there was a production line where the technician would grab completed packages and stack them on a pallet on the floor. This forced him to bend over every time and put his back at risk. I shared images of a spring-loaded pallet-lift, that could be installed for under $10,000 and would eliminate the need to bend over, as the lift would come up to a safe height for stacking and then lower naturally as the stacks got bigger.

After a few more examples, my tour guides opened up and showed me the most critical issues they were facing. I felt I could help with many of those issues, and they seemed to like my approach. We built a nice rapport and even traded business cards.

When the tour was over, we reconvened in the conference room and shared a light lunch. I was asked about my findings and described the top three issues where I could help. The team was more engaged than earlier in the morning, but still seemed skeptical I would be able to do what I said I could do.

I realized they had no experience with me and  were just going from my word and possibly the word of my sponsor, who hadn’t attended. Without him there to add credibility to the discussion, I felt like I didn’t have a chance to help this vendor.

I was right. Although they were appreciative and gracious, I never heard another word from them. I don’t think it was due to the pandemic. I do think it was due to the fact that I was “forced” on them, and it wasn’t their idea to bring in outside help.

Although I continue to learn this lesson at each engagement, I’ll still state it here: If you haven’t built trust through shared experiences, the odds of securing commitment to work together are very low.