Trust Building

The digital marketplace is a fascinating place to run a business, large or small. In many ways, regardless of size, any business has the ability to run with the big dogs and grow a business online. The advantage a big company has in the digital world is name recognition. That recognition is interpreted as instant trust online. Here are three important trust building tips for your website.
Your first impression to a customer is key to building trust. Customers are not commonly loyal in the digital marketplace. They are also loyal far less trusting at the same time. To trust a business, means you believe in the reliability, integrity, expertise, or strength of the service or product being offered. In the digital world, trust is key to keeping and building your website audience. When a customer trusts you, they often return. How do you know when your trust level with online visitors is low? Common are frequent low and poor reviews. Being good at what your do and how you deliver can make a huge difference. Creating a successful trustworthy brand begins with a consistent representation of your business (your brand) on your website. This concept, as simple as it seems, is the easiest way to begin building trust and making a trustworthy brand.

1. Honesty

An easy place to start building trust is with your products and services. When you present a product to a customer, whether online or in person, BE HONEST. Always give the whole truth about a product and let the customer decide if it really is the best. Honesty builds reputation, promotes loyalty, and is one of the most desired traits in businesses. Not only will the audience appreciate your honesty, but they’ll be honest with you in return, which is crucial to building trust with your brand. Honesty online can be enhanced through consistent content on your website, blogs and print material. Another resource for customers about your honesty are through reviews. Take the time and review relevant review sites such as Yelp.

2. Communication

One of the easiest ways to lose a customer is through lack of communication. Communication is another one of the most important qualities in a business. Not only can effective communication help create a good working relationship between you and your staff, but it also creates a relationship between you and your customers. This in turn improves trust in your brand and increases business. Clear and concise communication on your website and directly with a client helps build trust, confidence and eliminates miscommunication. This should be a goal whether on your website, email or on the phone. Bad communication skills leads to your audience not putting trust in you to deliver what they want.
Feedback is one of those gold nuggets that can help you understand how well your business is communicating. Writing reviews are one of the most popular ways a customer can communicate with you. Most customers check reviews before they even think about buying a new product. 89% of consumers viewed online product and service reviews as trustworthy, and another 80% have changed their minds about a purchase based on the negative reviews they’ve read. If your brand creates a false ad or review, your audience will NOT trust you – resulting in more bad reviews and ultimately less customers. Reviews are essential feedback – and you should not ignore this opportunity to make changes where needed.

3. Reliability

Your reputation is built on trust. The final key point in building trust is about your reliability. Doing what you say you will do, even if it is a small thing, is critical in building trust with your audience, customers and employees. Frequently canceling meetings or failing to follow through with commitments will erode your trustworthiness and reliability in all aspects of your business. Perhaps you might be justifying the occasional tardiness, missed meeting or deadline as “not a big deal.” But consider this, if that justification is your norm, it also becomes the norm of your employees and consequently will add up over time. The result, lack of customers due to lack of reliability. Your customer may come to see you as less trustworthy. As a key in building trust and your brand, make reliability a cornerstone of your business.