6 Ways to Build and Maintain Customer Trust in Your Business
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There are businesses that have mastered the art of building customer trust online and have the reputation and accolades to prove it. Some of these brands, including Apple and Sephora, achieved higher rankings due to their offline and online customer service, while others, such as Zappos and Amazon, started online and built trust through ethical practices to rise to the top. Here are some proven ways to build customer trust online:
- Encourage online reviews: After every visit, you should contact your customers through email, telephone or a hand-written letter and request them to post online reviews. Do everything you can to encourage your customers to write reviews because these reviews can work magic for businesses. This is because customer reviews and testimonials can help potential customers get over trust concerns. Testimonials from existing customers can go a long way toward eliminating skepticism in potential customers.
- Focus on social media activities: If your business is not active on social media networks or has few followers, schedule your day such that you can spend quality time on social media activities. These activities may include responding to customer comments on your social media pages or sharing general office-related content. Since many people evaluate the credibility of a business based on its level of activity or number of followers on social media, this can be a huge advantage for building trust.
- Provide accurate contact information: Due to a huge number of business scams out there, it is necessary to prove the legitimacy of your business. This can be done easily by including accurate contact details on your website. You must provide your office telephone number, email and other information. Providing contact information also streamlines the networking process and assists in attracting new customers and business partnerships.
- Acquire a certification seal: Getting a certified seal from the Better Business Bureau is one of the most efficient ways to increase your credibility. Although getting a certification seal requires financial investment and meeting certain criteria, increased conversions often provide more ROI regarding efforts and expenses. After installing a certified seal icon, customers will have legitimate reasons that your business is reputable.
- Provide exceptional customer service: Many businesses complain about customers damaging their marketing campaigns and posting negative online reviews. The easiest way to resolve this problem is to do a good job and provide excellent customer service. Delivering high-quality customer service is the best way to build customer trust and reduce negative online reviews.
- Implement customer loyalty programs: After you have established customer trust, the next task is to maintain it. The best way to maintain customer trust is through loyalty programs. There are many ways to reward and recognize loyal customers. Regardless of the manner in which you decide to reward your customers, the rule is to make a difference in their lives. Most of the satisfied customers will stick with you if you reward them appropriately. You can try out various types of loyalty programs and see what works best for your business.
Final words
When looking to build consumer trust, it is important to implement both short-term and long-term strategies.
You want to attract customers today, but eventually your goal is to retain each and every customer so that they come back and buy again.
Building and maintaining trust at every point in the consumer journey will increase your sales and help you build a profitable business.