Fraud protection through transparency is the new way of doing business. Let’s face it…the old ways of doing business are dying. Long gone are the days of hiding information or passing a sub-par service off as legitimate. Your clients know when something doesn’t seem right, they feel it just as you do when you engage with someone who isn’t being authentic.

Today’s customer looks for businesses that operate within some sort of ethical code, moral based system, or have a foundation of social entrepreneurism. It’s simple really… people want to connect. They’re looking for authenticity and they want to know they can trust the businesses they engage. People are tired of getting ripped off and they’re tired of giving money to the wrong people. They want to know who is behind the business, what they stand for, and if they operate in integrity.

Yes, your clients still want value, but more importantly, they want to know they can trust you. While trust comes from building relationships, those relationships now move at the speed of Facebook and the Internet. The problem is the old methodologies of validating what would be considered a “legitimate” business no longer work, as those systems are only driven by profit.

There is a better a way…Transparency. Operating in transparency empowers you, as the business owner, and gives you the opportunity to say, “Hey, this is me, this is our history…now let’s go do business together.”

What’s even more exciting about transparency is even if you don’t have any negative reviews or events in your past (and if you’ve been in business longer than a day you probably do) operating in transparency gives you an edge over your competitors and allows you to connect to your clients faster.

Operating in transparency literally disarms anyone who wants to use something negative against you. If you own it and make it right then there’s no argument. Bottom line…it’s a lot easier to build relationships and trust with your customers when everything is on the table.

That’s why we created The CLEAR Business DirectoryTM, to give business owners the opportunity to operate in transparency. All of our members are screened for frauds and scams on an annual basis. Each member is given the opportunity to review their individual transparency report and must “opt-in” to the directory. This means that all directory members operate in integrity. So before you hire anyone or engage an advisor make sure they’re in The CLEARTM.