It’s a competitive market out there and you need to position yourself as best as possible to survive. Customers play a great part in that, distinguishing brands and deciding who deserves their loyalty. Moreover, customers can recognize when they are the only means to an end by being wooed with generic advertising and zero real interest in their desires.
For a business, this means that you have to invest your resources into being authentic and creating a trustworthy brand. So, let’s discuss what you can do to build customer trust in an honest way and rise above your competition.
1. Work on your product and services constantly
Every generation is different and you need to make sure your product and services evolve with your customers. People tend to make decisions more from an emotional than logical level, so they need to connect with your product to buy it. So, invoking certain memories years ago may not work on the customers today.
For example, if you had a product intended for seniors that you sold in the ‘80s, it may not satisfy the needs of the seniors of today. Collect customer feedback, scout the competition, and always work to make your product and services better.
2. Maintain communication with customers
Customers want to have a positive relationship with you just as much as you want it. Like any other relationship, this one is also built through quality communication. To achieve this, allow your customers to review your products and services, offer feedback, and leave complaints.
Make sure to answer every message, even those that are negative and uncomfortable. Arguing with your customers only makes the conversation more flamed and impossible to resolve the issues, with the risk to lose them for good.
3. Offer quality content
A transparent, honest, and detailed description of your products and services is only a part of the content you can offer to your customers. You can add a blog that will offer advice and tips on how to use your products, as well as about general topics related to your brand.
Quality content can give you visibility and turn you into an initiator of ideas and opinions. Furthermore, your content should offer solutions, but not use the sales approach. Customers want to make their own decisions to buy, so it’s best to make your content educational.
4. Build trust in your brand
By hiring a creative branding agency, you can turn your brand into a respectful and identifiable symbol of your company. Since you can’t please everyone, you need to keep your loyal fans satisfied and pampered. They can spread the word about your brand to family, friends, and social media followers, turning them into patrons of your brand.
Another way to build trust in your brand is consistency. Every product or service should tell a story, like being intended for female customers or family-oriented. If your brand loses this over time or refocuses on other target audiences, it may confuse the existing customer base. Instead, create a new product or expand an existing one, but don’t change it to fit another customer profile.
5. Improve your customer service
Customer service is what your customers contact when they are having trouble with your product or services. Sometimes, they can call to express their opinion, wishes, and disappointments. Regardless of why they contacted your company, the customer service agents need to be consistent and use the same format to respond to their inquiries.
After all, your customer service will create an image of your company that can either deem you trustworthy or not worth your customers’ time. So, invest in training programs and make sure that your customer service managers follow the newest trends in responding to messages.
6. Encourage personalized experience
Personal experience is about making your customers feel special and valued. This is something you can do by offering additional shopping options to loyal customers or giving them gifts.
But, you can also create a personalized experience with data mining tools, like AI and marketing software. Of course, these are the only means to help you improve your service as nothing can replace a human touch when interacting with customers.
7. Tell them your story
Customers want to know who you are and how you ended up doing what you do. For example, if you are a family-owned business, let your customers know more about your family and its core values. Use your website to introduce your employees and tell your company’s story, but don’t stop there.
Additionally, post other news and announcements on social media than just updates on your products. Share photos from team-building activities, charities, and other events your employees and company participated in. By opening up to the public, you are building a relationship with current and potential customers that will lead to lasting trust.
8. Create a reliable online shop
Your customers want to feel safe while shopping in your online shop. To ensure this doesn’t happen, create a reliable platform that will use trusted payment options and an easy checkout process. Customers will trust you if you don’t share their personal data without their permission. On the other hand, you had to establish a certain amount of trust to deserve such personal data, like having SSL certificates and other trust badges.
Make sure that you are transparent about shipping information so there are no surprise expenses or unexpected delays. Also, be as detailed as possible with your product descriptions, so they have all the information they need to make the purchase.
All in all
Trust doesn’t happen overnight, but you can lose it that quickly. It’s a delicate relationship that needs to be nurtured and cared for. The same applies to relationships you have with your customers. To build customer trust, you have to show your customers appreciation through transparency and a personalized approach. The key is to be consistent in your behavior, honest, and always open to improving yourself and your product.
