177 - 10 Ways to Build Trust and Credibility With Your Customers

When deciding on your business, the first step is to identify a need or ongoing concern of your target market and provide a solution for it.

1. Invest in your website.

It’s not enough that you have a website. You have to ensure your website will enhance User Experience or UX. Your website must have the following qualities

Mobile -- responsive
Fast download time
Accessible by multi-browsers
Fully functional features
Navigability
Simple but effective design

2. Be yourself.

Psychiatrist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman theorized that consumers are more intuitive than rational. They will patronize a business if they align with its purpose. Speak to your market; do not lecture or try to impress them with fancy terminologies. Your message should be short and simple: “I can help you.”

An effective way is to embed videos on your Home and About Us pages. You can tell people who you are; what your business is all about and how you can help them within 2 minutes.

3. Host webinars.

Another effective way to gain trust and credibility with your customers is to host webinars. Here are a few of the benefits you gain by hosting webinars:

Develops authority and trust
Builds relationships
Highlight your expertise
Help you understand your target audience
Raise brand awareness

4. Blog regularly.

Blogging gives you a platform to address the needs and concerns of your customers. It allows you to share actionable ideas on a host of various topics your customers are regularly searching information on.

Here are tips on how to use a blog to enhance your trust and credibility to customers:

Use analytics, keyword research and audience engagement to see which types of content interest your customers the most.
Publish three to four blogs a week and have these distributed through multiple online channels.
Your blog should at least be 1,600 words long.
Do not use technical jargon in your blog.
Write your blog as if you are conversing with your customer.

5. Add testimonials.

Testimonials are a powerful tool in earning trust and credibility with customers. It is your customer telling others how acquiring your products or services benefited his or her business.

This is why testimonies are so effective; it is organic, natural and very real. It is the most sincere way of validating your trustworthiness and credibility. Having a testimonials page in your website will greatly influence the decision of site visitors to patronize your business.

6. Be truthful about reviews.

What is the difference between a testimonial and a review? With a testimonial, you get to choose who gives the statement. A review is more objective and impartial because you are dealing with the opinions of a collective.

Of course, if you own the website you have the ability to be selective on which reviews are posted. But remember, website visitors are skeptical by nature. If all the reviews are “5 Stars” or “Excellent”, the process becomes self-serving.

7. Include case studies.

How do you make a testimonial more powerful? When you include a case study which details how acquiring your product or service helped the customer achieve his or her goals or turned around the business to become a verified success.

It’s not enough to state you can help businesses achieve a 400 percent ROI in one year. Show website visitors how you did if for your customers. Remember, some customers do extensive research before buying a product or service.

8. Get certified.

Part of the research customers do is due diligence. They want to eliminate all the possibilities of dealing with a fraudulent business. One of the ways they do this is to check with regulating agencies.

As a registered business, have a copy of your SEC or trade certificate accessible for viewing in the Home Page. You could also go through the process of being accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

9. Be active in social media.

Social media is a great way to bring your business closer to people. The idea is to get more involved with your customers. If you have a Facebook page, engage your followers once they post a comment. Do not be disheartened or get annoyed with negative comments. Give your response in a respectful and highly respectful manner.

10. Attend to concerns right away.

Trust is a quality that is earned over time. You cannot earn it in one day or one week. It may take months or years. The key is consistency. If a customer calls your attention on a defect or a problem with your product or service, attend to it right away.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Be a listener 80 percent of the time.
Avoid clichés like “I know where you’re coming from” or “I’m sorry to hear about that”; have a conversation with the customer. That’s how relationships are built.
Do not be defensive or argue with a customer.
If it’s your mistake, own up to it and assure an immediate resolution to the problem.
If you have to replace the product, do it.
If a customer requests for a refund, give it.
If it’s the customer’s mistake, see what you can do to make the situation easier.
Be proactive; if resolution will take time, keep the customer updated of the status.

Source: entrepreneur

All the best!

Patty Block