In the modern age, it’s not really enough just to get out into the world and find customers. Sure, that is now and always will be a significant part of running any business, but that’s not where the story ends. The truth is that, in the twenty-first century, there’s one thing that is incredibly important and yet goes ignored far too many businesses: you need to develop a relationship with your customers. And not just an overall relationship, you need to develop connections with your customers as individuals. And what’s the most important part of any relationship? That’s right, trust! Without trust, no relationship can ever survive, whether it’s romantic, personal, or professional. If your customers don’t feel like they can trust you, then you can kiss goodbye any chance of earning their loyalty or recommendation. Of course, it can be pretty difficult to develop a sense of trust with your customers since most people in the modern age tend to be automatically suspicious of pretty much all businesses on principle. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. In fact, here are a few things that you can do which don’t require as much time and effort as you might expect but can greatly improve the feeling of trust that your customers have in you and your business.
Increased security
If there’s one thing that helps to make a customer trust your business more than just about anything else, it’s making them feel safe. If your customers feel safe then not only is that going to increase the faith they have in your professionalism but it makes it much clearer to them that you have no intention of taking them for a ride. And these days there are more security options out there than ever before. From selfie and multifactor identity verification to fingerprint scanners, there are plenty of different ways to make sure that your customer’s information is always secure. If you can make sure that they’re aware of this fact that your customers are going to be far more willing to provide you with that information.
Consistent communication
One of the most frustrating things for a lot of customers is when they’re trying to figure out some kind of issue, or even just find a particular product, and they don’t feel as though the business is paying any real attention to their needs. Make sure that, if your customers are interacting with your business in any way that you’re always keeping in contact with them and communicating everything that’s happening. If you’re fixing an issue that they’re having, give them frequent updates and make sure that they’re always fully aware of what you’re doing to help them.
Total transparency
One of the main reasons why a lot of customers really struggle to trust a business is that it’s often difficult for them to relate to them on a human level. After all, no one is going to be able to to make any kind of genuine connection with a faceless company. Because of that, it’s always a good idea to give your customers a look behind the curtain whenever you can. Even something as simple as running a blog that gives a behind the scenes look at the goings on in your business can do wonders for creating a much more open and transparent atmosphere for your customers.
Rewarding loyalty
One of the most common mistakes that even experienced businesses make is that they assume that the only customers that they need to worry about are the new ones. They spend all of their energy trying to bring in new customers that they neglect the ones that they already have. Because of this, it’s incredibly common for customers to be tempted away by other companies doing the same thing. To keep this from happening, make sure that you do everything you can to let your existing customers know how valued and appreciated they are.
It’s a fact of life that not every customer is going to trust your business, and that’s just something that you’re going to need to come to terms with as quickly as possible. The important thing is that you focus on not only earning but keeping the trust of those customers who are willing to put their faith in your business. After all, unless you’re actively trying to rip your customers off, they will almost always come to find that their trust in your business was well placed and are far more likely to send other customers your way in the future.
