When I landed ClearBags’ first and largest contract-based customer back in 2010, it wasn’t because of a clever pitch or aggressive pricing.

The fit was right on paper. I knew the product inside and out. I had spent enough time one-on-one with the president of our supplying factory to know—without hesitation—that we had the best quality-to-price mix in the world for the specific market we served.

But what actually sealed the relationship was something far simpler, and far more durable: trust.

Early on, it became clear that what mattered most to this customer was transparent communication. If there was a problem, they wanted to be the first to know about it. No cover-ups. No excuses. No sleight of hand. Just straight shooting.

That expectation became the operating agreement between us.

Over the next fifteen years, that customer stayed with ClearBags through their own ups and downs. As far as I know, they remain loyal today and still hold their position as the company’s largest customer. Along the way, we didn’t just meet their needs—we adapted together. We navigated sustainability challenges, ownership changes, and the disruptions of the pandemic.

The relationship held because it was never transactional. It was relational.

From the beginning, we sought to understand before being understood. We looked for outcomes that worked for both sides. We continued to improve, sharpen the saw, and get better as the market, expectations, and operating realities evolved.

Trust didn’t just win the deal.
Trust sustained it.

What has struck me recently is how often that same principle shows up in a very different setting.

Since relocating to the Mid-South, I’ve heard a consistent message from both customers and business owners. The biggest challenge isn’t price, competition, or even quality. It’s reliability and communication. Showing up. Standing behind the work. Being clear about what’s happening and what’s changed. Following through.

Different place. Different scale. Same truth.

This is where sales leadership and organizational leadership converge.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes about seeking first to understand, thinking win-win, and continuously improving. Those ideas aren’t abstract leadership concepts—they are practical operating principles for consultative sales and long-term customer relationships.

Stephen M. R. Covey makes the point even more directly in The Speed of Trust: when trust is high, everything moves faster. When trust is low, everything slows down and costs more.

The same dynamic shows up inside organizations. Patrick Lencioni places trust at the base of the pyramid in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team for a reason. When trust is absent, teams protect themselves. Communication narrows. Accountability weakens. Execution suffers.

I’ve seen this repeatedly—with customers, vendors, internal teams, and key stakeholders. When trust is present, people work through problems together.

When trust is missing, even small issues tend to fail.

Exceptional sales doesn’t rely on persuasion.
Strong leadership doesn’t rely on authority.

Both rely on consistency, transparency, and follow-through over time.

Trust isn’t built by saying the right thing once. It’s built by doing the right thing repeatedly—especially when it would be easier not to.

That was true the night a connection was first made at Pack Expo in Chicago.
It’s true today in McNairy County.
And it remains true anywhere people are trying to build something that lasts.

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If growth feels harder than it should—whether in sales, leadership, or execution—it may be worth asking a quieter question:

Is effort really the constraint, or is trust still waiting to be earned?

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