Somewhere along the line, my four-year-old daughter developed a habit of taking things that are not hers. Common items that may be in jeopardy are her older sister’s make-up, Mom’s gum, and if you have candy, forget it! She will find candy no matter where you hide your stash! What is interesting, (as well as a source of parental frustration) are the lengths that she will go to hide the evidence. It is a dead giveaway if you see her sitting under the breakfast table. As soon as she sees you walk into the room, there is a quick crash on the floor, a sound of scurrying out from under the table, followed by some kind of exclamation, “There’s candy under the table!” as if the candy were a brand new discovery and she is looking to share her new found treasure with someone!
Honesty is not something that comes naturally, it is a learned habit. Have you ever caught yourself exaggerating a story and you didn’t know why? What about justifying a little white lie? “It wasn’t completely true, but for the most part it was.” Let’s be honest, we all have done this. Holding yourself to a standard of honesty is not something that is easy to execute. Being honest takes a conscience effort. The same is true for an organization.
At NAVCO, we have six company values that we try to live by: honesty, quality, teamwork, integrity, responsibility and respect. Honesty means being truthful in everything. For NAVCO, being truthful means that we make a conscience effort as an organization to honestly deliver information that matters to our customers. No one benefits from knowingly misrepresenting an organization’s capabilities. If NAVCO can’t do something, we are concerned about the level of quality we can deliver in a particular area of the country or have concern over our ability to deliver on a customer request, we want our customers and prospects to understand those limitations so they can make the best decision for their organization. The worst position we could be in is to start a brand-new relationship on false pretenses. Bad news needs to be communicated quickly. If we were to take on a project that we knew upfront we could not deliver, we risk damaging our reputation in the industry in addition to having an upset customer. And that is much worse than just honestly sharing up front that we are not the right fit for the project, prospect or customer.
The best partner is one who places a high value on a firm foundation for new and existing relationships. A trusted advisor that you can rely on to give you honest feedback with regard to products and projects, and will deliver the truth about issues that arise and work with you to find a solution. This is who we strive to be. This is the NAVCO difference that earns us new customers and allows us to boast of a 99% customer retention rate. This is our company culture.
Is your current integrator going to get you fired?
