Trust — fiducia — is not a nice-to-have in Italian business; it is the essential mechanism that makes agreements work. When trust exists, everything flows: communication is open, flexibility is easy, problems get resolved through conversation. When trust is absent, everything is friction: every term needs documentation, every adjustment triggers suspicion, every interaction is guarded. Building trust takes time.
It requires personal knowledge, repeated positive experience, demonstrated reliability. Italians invest in trust-building because they know the entire system depends on it. Do not try to skip the trust-building phase to reach agreement faster — you will get a formal agreement that lacks the trust infrastructure to function properly. Invest the time.
Build the relationship. The agreement will be stronger for it.
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