Winning over the trust of your customers is perhaps the most important pillar upon which to build a company. Nowadays, when security breaches are as commonplace as it gets, this evergreen principle is more important than ever. And once trust is breached, the consequences can be enormous – in some cases, rebuilding it is rendered impossible.
To help steer you in the right direction, we’ve prepared 7 actionable tips on how to build it and foster it even in the most challenging of circumstances:
Table of Contents
1. Adopt a Personal Approach
Your customers want to be seen. They want to be heard. Hence, it’s important that you let them know that you’re there for them. Not only will it make you feel good, but also give you a powerful competitive edge you can lean on.
To do that, you will need to display empathy and use it to put yourself in the shoes of your customers. The goal is to envision their wants, needs, motivation, and inner struggles so you can provide a solution to whatever it is that they require help with.
In return, they will give you their time, and – most importantly – their loyalty, because they will see you as someone who “gets them” and speaks their language. Over the long haul, this leads to an increase in sales and a happy customer to come back for more.
2. Pursue Innovation
Innovation should remain at the core of your operations. When you think about it, it’s what sets you apart from all the rest that are copying each other. However, do bear in mind that you should never innovate for the sake of innovation alone. Rather, your efforts should go into creating something that addresses your market’s needs.
A good rule of thumb is to take something that’s already working (such as a product or service your competitors are offering), use it as a foundation, then built upon it to make it even better. If you were to take the exact opposite approach, you could spend years upon years perfecting something that hardly anyone wants to buy in the first place. So it’s wise to innovate on solid ground rather than an assumption.
3. Work on Treating Your Employees Right
Often, your prospective customers will judge you based on how you treat your employees. Therefore, you need to ask yourself probing questions like:
- Are you offering them a supportive working environment?
- Is the pay rewarding enough?
- Do your employees have enough reasons to stay motivated via incentives etc.?
- Does the work allow them to grow?
In an ideal scenario, every company’s associate should be treated as a member of the family. As a result, they will treat your customers even better, who will then be likely to reward the friendly gesture by making a purchase, being sure they’ve put their trust in the right hands. If that alone is not a good incentive to brush up on your leadership and people skills, nothing is.
4. Provide Transparency
In short, your customers want to stay on top of how you handle their sensitive information. For instance, you may have asked them to provide a scan of a personally identifiable document or other types of personally identifiable documents. It’s easy to see why anyone would have second thoughts about handing it over – in the event of a breach, it could even lead to identity theft.
They want to be reassured that you’re employing the best industry-grade tools such as encryption, a password manager, regular antivirus scans, and all the other cybersecurity essentials. So the first step is to implement them. Then, you should convey the measures you’ve taken to protect their privacy and be transparent about what data you’re collecting. In fact, if you’re present in the EU zone, certain regulations such as GDPR even require you to do this.
5. Engage in Discussion With Your Customers
Have you ever noticed how some of the most highly rated companies out there tend to make an effort to communicate with their customers? For instance, they often will leave their opinions and concerns on various customer review platforms. Then, the company representatives will respond to them, thank them for their feedback (and address it), then use it as a basis on which to improve their products and services. Sometimes they run customer loyalty programs to stay their customers connected!
You, too, can apply the same strategy and see to it that you get the good vibes you deserve. You can also take the proactive approach by asking them directly through social media or an email list you’ve built. To increase the chances of them responding in a positive manner, why not organize a giveaway and reward the ones who provide the most honest and thorough feedback?
6. Recognize Societal Issues and Contribute to Charities
Nobody wants to see another faceless corporate entity with no regard for societal issues and other people’s well-being. If, on the other hand, you prove to be the exact opposite, you will foster respect and trust in other individuals. The only question that remains is how to accomplish this?
For starters, you can emphasize how “green” your products are (if that applies to your business). Let your customers know that you care about the environment and that you choose to go digital and conserve our natural resources whenever possible.
If nothing else, you can always raise funds for charities that deserve them the most. You can also raise awareness for various causes. This will show your prospective customers that you have a heart and that you care.
7. Provide an Impeccable Customer Experience
In the end, your customers will judge you based on how they’re treated. You can demonstrate great customer care on multiple fronts: the front-end, which is your website and stores, as well as the back-end, meaning the customer support department. It’s important that your customers receive the attention they need both before and after the sale.
Stating that you care is not enough – you need to demonstrate it. In case there’s an issue one of your customers brings to your attention, be sure to see to it. In case a mutually-beneficial conclusion cannot be reached, offer a no-questions-asked refund. Refusing to accept someone’s money unless they’re 100% satisfied is a good policy to follow.
Conclusion
Applying the tips outlined above and earning the trust of your customers should no longer be outside of your reach. This may be a lot to take in and you won’t be able to do it all in one night. But make gradual steps in the right direction and you’ll be showered with love and loyalty from the direction that matters – your customers.
