Trust is a big word built on the little things – hard to earn, easy to break.
And in business, building customer trust can be a deal-breaker.
A good reputation may win a company some new curious buyers, but trust will win their hearts, keeping them for the long term. On the other hand, broken trust can lead to customers leaving, lost opportunities, and having to mount costly contingency measures.
4 Tips on How To Build Trust With Customers
TRANSPARENCY
In the age of fast-paced information, businesses should know that customers want to know everything they can about the product or service they intend to buy. Transparency also involves providing an avenue for people who want to ask for assistance with the product, which means establishing an efficient customer service unit.
BE PRESENT, BE RESPONSIVE
Today’s consumers are almost always mobile, multitasking, moving fluidly from one platform to another in a course of an hour, trying to make every second count. Within those hours, some customers may feel the need to seek assistance with your product or service. When they do, you need to be there. Whether the customers are on Facebook, at the office, outdoors, in transit, in a hotel, or just at home, there should always be a way to contact your support team.
Companies must be able to do some research on the demographics of their customers, where they usually are, and their preferred digital platforms. Wherever they are, your business should be there. This could be easy, as many companies now have multiplatform customer service units, but the real challenge is being responsive round the clock.
Being responsive 24/7 can be a bit of a challenge, but not doing so may result in losing customer trust that can have a domino effect, especially when the customer decides to share the problem on social media.
DELIVER ON EXPECTATIONS
Whether it’s about fast delivery, exceptional packaging, or a personalized experience, companies must deliver on what they promise. It may sound like a no-brainer, but there are still many companies that fail to deliver on expectations due to a lack of strategic considerations. Formulating a brand promise should involve tests and projections on possible customer response to avoid unexpected turnouts.
COMMITMENT & CONSISTENCY
Earning customer trust is hard but keeping it could be more difficult because it requires commitment and consistency on the part of the organization. Being transparent, reachable, responsive, and reliable will amount to nothing if a company fails to deliver consistently.
Companies must commit to “proactive” and “reactive” solutions and resources to sustain excellent service delivery.
Being “proactive” means ensuring that all the gaps and roles needed to deliver top-notch service night in, and night out are filled. Having “reactive” resources means having a well-trained customer service team that you count on when the business needs to handle a crisis.
