The key to success for any business today is building long-lasting relationships with customers. And the first step to do so is to improve your customers’ trust. In our article, we will give you a clear explanation of why it is important as well as provide you with fourteen easy steps on how to build trust with customers in no time. So, let’s get started.
What is Customer Trust?
First off, let’s define what customer trust is. To put it simply, it is nothing else than matching customers’ expectations with the company’s promises. If the product or service delivers on the company’s promises, then magic happens — consumer trust is gained.
So, is this that simple?
Not really. The challenge with building trust with customers is that you can’t make or force your customers to think that your company is trustworthy. Instead, you need to carefully nurture trust with the help of the right marketing and communication strategies, remembering that each of your interactions with customers is an opportunity for success.
Is Consumer Trust Important?
We live in a customer-centric world, where a customer can ruin your business just by writing negative feedback on their social media. That is why it is essential to build trust with your customers. This can help you attract new and retain loyal customers. In turn, customer retention will result in a high conversion rate, increased sales, and more successful deals. Besides, when customers trust your brand, they can easily transform into brand ambassadors who are basically free marketers of your brand who will speak positively about you and attract even more long-term customers.
Here are just some statistics by Edelman company to prove the importance of customer trust:
- 50% of customers state that trust is the second to price when choosing a brand;
- 70% of customers state that trust is more important today than it was in the past;
- 74% of customers state that the impact that a brand has on society is a reason why trust issues have become more important today.
14 Easy Ways How to Gain Customer Trust and Confidence
So, how to build trust with customers? Here are fourteen easy ways to build trust with your customers in no time.
1. Never remove negative feedback
Do you know that satisfied customers will share their positive experiences with about 11 people, while negative with about 15 people? That is why, undoubtedly, it is important to reach out to those who had an excellent customer experience with your brand and ask for reviews. This will help you build customer trust and improve the purchasing decision of potential customers. Besides, when a real person leaves positive feedback, it is more likely that other people will trust your company, too. So, the more positive reviews you have, both on social media and video testimonials, the more you improve your credibility among customers.
2. Forget about clickbait, be honest
The way you market your business directly influences your products or services. If you try to hype and drive traffic by using clickbait tactics and overpromising, the chances that your customers will trust you are… zero. How to gain customers' trust, then? Instead, you should always be honest and transparent about the service or products you offer if you want to meet customers’ expectations. This, in turn, will help you build a strong bond, establish consumer trust, and get more happy customers.
3. Take advantage of negative feedback
Always remember that you can’t please every customer. Negative feedback happens but you should not delete them as it can help you with building trust with clients, too. How? Just by showing that you care about your customers and addressing their concerns. Besides, if you regularly delete customers’ negative feedback, it will only show your customers that you filter out everything or even use fake positive reviews. And you don’t want this, right?
4. Opt for the loyalty program
Good customer loyalty programs can level up your sales and increase the customer's lifetime value. Basically, their main goal is to make your customers return and continue buying from you over and over again. Besides, it creates an emotional connection with your brand and, if used in combo with personalization, can do wonders, really.
What are the most common customer loyalty programs? For the eCom sector, it usually includes some free bonuses for return customers, early access, and promotions. For B2B, it may include some useful content or early bird invitations for webinars or some events.
5. Provide nothing more than excellent customer service
61% of Americans state they will switch the company in case of even a one-time poor customer service occasion. Sounds terrifying for a business, right? Surely, the way you provide your customers with support reflects directly in their trust and loyalty. That is why it is essential to train your customer service representatives according to the highest standards. What does this mean? They need to have an established framework on how to troubleshoot the customers' issues and treat each of the issues individually. This way, your customers will receive a professional, effective, and, what is more important, personalized experience. Besides, if your loyal customer base feels they are treated superiorly, they are most likely to return and recommend you to their friends and family.
6. Always stay consistent
You should always stay consistent in each interaction with your customers, as even the smallest fallback may influence your reputation badly. Besides, if you are consistent, customers treat your business as credible. But how to become consistent? Here the recipe is simple, just employ standard working procedures, clear policies, and accommodating practices.
7. Transparency is key
Transparency is the foundation of trust. What does it involve? It means staying open and honest with each company’s actions:
- Giving your customers detailed information about all your products or services
- Coming clean about how your company is operated
- Resolving and giving answers to all the customers’ issues and complaints
- Telling stories of the companies’ employees
Staying transparent with your customers means that you are honest, which, as well, can help with building customer trust. Besides, it makes customers feel more engaged by showing them some insights into how the company is operated.
8. Communicate the company’s core values
Another powerful way of building customer trust is to show them your core company values. We are talking about both internal and external values. For example, the internal ones should be about how you treat your employees and external ones — your partnerships with some non-profits, NGOs, or fundraising companies that are working on some social, political, or environmental issues.
How to communicate these issues? You can create the statement with the list of your company values on your website and social media, or include it in your PR strategy and ensure that you take the actions that reflect these values. Here are some steps that can help you:
- Creating content for social media where you show your support for some environmental issues
- Creating landing pages on your partnership with some non-profits or NGOs
- Share on your social media some information about your employees: their working hours, working conditions, benefits, etc.
9. Ask for feedback
Every customer wants to be sure that the company they interact with cares about their opinion. So, do not underestimate asking for feedback and receiving customer reviews from them as this step can help you in different aspects:
- Customers feel heard which is a great way how to build customer trust and loyalty
- Customers’ feedback helps you further improve your products or services
- You improve customer retention rate and, consequently, decrease the churn rate
Now the question is ‘How to receive feedback from your customers?’ There are different ways, but the good old survey is probably the most widespread option.
10. Study your target audience
Studying your target customers by conducting marketing research is still a very important step, as today, most customers are willing to get a personalized approach. So, you need to thoroughly study your customers’ needs and issues they have together with their pain points to create the right messages that resonate with them. Besides, if your customers see a deep understanding of their needs and receive the service that properly resolves their issues and provides them with added value, the chances that they will trust you are much higher.
11. Create a good reputation
As Warren Buffet, the world-known business magnate once said:
It takes about 20 years to build your reputation but only 5 minutes to destroy it.
And he is totally right. The company's reputation consists of meeting the highest standards — from hiring and training employees to producing quality products and providing professional services. And you should always be sure that you adhere to those standards if you want to have a good reputation and be able to build consumer trust.
Another way to earn a good reputation is to make customers trust you. In this case, showing you are GDPR compliant will impact a company's perception in clients' eyes. They should know how you process and protect their data. This formula creates a good reputation for you.
If you are a Zendesk user, you no longer need to process customers' data manually. The GDPR Compliance application will do it instead of you. Agents can sort out the data with users, tickets, and organizations, making different lists. After, items from these lists can be deleted or anonymized. Besides, you can combine lists and launch the GDPR processes automatically. Read more here and try out the app for free.
12. Share your knowledge
You have been working for a while, which means you already know many things about your industry and can share your knowledge with your customers. How to gain customer trust using your knowledge? Create and share helpful tips and best industry insights on how to get the most out of your products and services. This doesn’t mean you have to invest much time in it but it really can bring added value for your customers. Your customers will surely appreciate your initiative and treat your company as credible.
13. Stay in contact with your customers
Your contact page is not only the most visited page on your website but it is also the main touchpoint of how your customers can get in touch with you. So, make sure this page is user-friendly, has an intuitive design, and contains all the contact details your company has: mobile or stationary numbers, emails, social media pages, and live chat if you have one. Be proactive!
14. Seamlessly assist your customers with their issues
Solving your customers’ problems seamlessly is a very important step in building trust with your customers. Especially, if customers face some problems with your product or service. What are the principles of outstanding customer service?
- Resolving issues fast while demonstrating empathy, kindness, and attentiveness to customers
- Using multiple channels for communication with your customers
- Finding unique and personalized solutions to each of the issues
If you are a Zendesk user or you are just looking closely at this platform try our apps, themes, or services for Zendesk. Our team will help you to maintain a seamless and rapid service to be on the same wavelength as your customers.
Key Takeaways
Summing up, it is necessary to say that trust is basically the glue that is used to bond customers with your brand. Those companies that found a way to build trust with their customers are able to nurture a life-lasting customer relationship and get thousands of brand advocates.
And there is no universal secret on how to build trust with customers — you just need to always have your customer in mind whatever you do. Provide them with outstanding and personalized customer service. Stay always honest, transparent, and contactable. Communicate your values, share your knowledge, and ask for feedback. That is an easy way to gain trust and become successful in no time.
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