Trust is what wins loyalty.
getty
My mother believed in the power of good karma and in the idea that past actions influence present opportunities. After fifty years in business, I believe it, too. I have seen how good actions compound over time, building trust and loyalty among customers—arguably the cornerstones of any successful business strategy.
My mother used to tell my siblings and me a story about the god of prosperity. One day, a gentleman encountered the god of prosperity in his dream, and the god said he would make the gentleman a rich man. So the man lived his life carefree, often getting drunk. Then one day, the god of prosperity came to shower him with good fortune, but he was so drunk, he couldn’t receive the blessing.
The moral of the story is to always be ready for new opportunities. However, I believe it also speaks to luck and the idea that the luck that finds you is rarely random. Instead of something that is passively granted, luck is something we must build for—by doing good things the right way, continuously over time.
In the early days of my healthcare business, I had to find patients—they weren’t yet coming to me. So, I traveled to Malaysia in a mobile unit, offering free health screenings. To raise awareness, I worked with organizations like the Lions Club, Rotary Club, churches, temples, and non-governmental organizations.
In those days, people were often apprehensive when you offered them something for free, especially in healthcare. However, over time, we built a strong reputation as an organization that really cared about people. We became known for providing quality service and timely results. Eventually, we became a household name. In hindsight, the “social work” we did was the best marketing and promotion we could have done.
A good business strategy doesn’t rely on a single positive action. It takes years of careful planning across multiple areas, from marketing to customer care. Similarly, good karma is not achieved through a single gesture. It is in the many smaller gestures, practiced daily, that good karma is built.
Even as my health services company grew, I wanted to keep the spirit of community service that had informed its early days. We focused on keeping standards of care high and costs low, and when unexpected events like COVID-19 arose, we pivoted to make sure we could meet the unique needs of the Malaysian people at that time. Throughout the pandemic, we offered discounts for students and seniors, free testing for individuals with disabilities, and income-based discounts for those struggling to make ends meet.
These gestures were the continuation of a decades-long commitment to service, which earned the trust not only of individual patients but also of the Malaysian government. And I believe that is why the government entrusted our company to offer COVID-19 testing everywhere from airports to the Prime Minister’s office. We weren’t the biggest player on the field, but we were the most trusted—and that is what got us the business.
If you live an honest life without cheating anyone, give to others, and show genuine care for people, you will reap the rewards—this was one of my mother’s greatest lessons. It may not be the kind of business strategy learned in MBA programs, but it is one that has served me well in my career. I believe that this approach builds trust with customers, and trust is what wins people’s loyalty—and loyalty is what allows a business to stand the test of time.
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