Customer trust is the biggest factor behind the business’s success and building branding. Customers or consumers are people. Until they are not confident, they will not do business with you or do not buy your products.
No matter which type of business you do. You run an online store or you do freelance or market SaaS products, or running an SEO agency or looking to grow YouTube channel subscribers the trust factor is universal. Trust or confidence matters in every sect and activity of human life. So, it is in the business.
Until you do not give the reason to trust you, or people can’t find the reasons to trust you till then you can’t build or show it.
Trust is most important in business, management, sales, and customer support. Without trust, it’s impossible to build a brand and grow a business.
Challenges:
- Trust is something that can be gained. But gaining the trust of customers is also challenging. There are more than 10 solutions for 1 problem. But customers only have to choose one. It’s challenging for a business to differentiate their product, and services and increase sales in such a situation.
- This is a new era of doing business. New startups, technologies, and products are coming to the market each day. It’s difficult for business owners and companies to build long-term relationships with customers.
- People or customers/consumers are also confused about which one to buy or which one not. And they don’t have time to research your product and brand.
- Gaining their attention to your business from thousands of brands, influencers, and advertising is very challenging.
And due to such challenges, small businesses and new businesses are not able to grow their business. Especially those who do not have any unique idea or thousands of dollars for advertising.
Even if they are honest, and have a good product, services, and customer support they are unable to gain customer attention or even a free demo trial.
There are various reasons behind it, and one of the reasons is trust. That’s why gaining the trust of customers is the biggest and most important thing to work on. It also means building the brand from nothing.
Opportunities:
The challenge gives us opportunities and ideas to grow the business. Winning customer trust without compromising business ethics is possible. But for that, you have to see trust-building opportunities in between challenges. And have to find out the things that are unique, help your brand to shine, and contribute in increase sales and growing business.
Some of the ways to win customers are following what I personally believe, practicing, and also learning or observing other successful brands.
10 Ways to gain customer trust and confidence:
I believe in these ways. You might disagree on something, but that’s ok! Please let me know that in the comments. But also test these ways for a few days and see the difference in results.
1. Trust in yourself and your business or products:
Your own belief in your business and product is reflected in your words, actions and behavior. If you can’t trust your plans, ideas, and solutions then how it’s possible to gain the trust of someone else?
You gain confidence through studying a product you are promoting. You can gain confidence through market research. You gain confidence by building a good product. And you build confidence by learning and updating your customer and business knowledge and skills.
So the 1st and most important thing to do to win customers is to believe in your own ideas and solutions.
2. Trust your targeted customers:
If you do not believe in the people and your target audience then you can’t gain their trust. To win their trust 1st you have to trust them.
You have to believe that they will pay attention to your social media posts, videos, blog posts, advertising, and all other activities that you’re going to do in order to increase sales.
When you create a campaign based on keyword research and after-market research and understand the pain points of people, you actually able to create a good campaign. You gain confidence because you have knowledge about your customers.
And this reflects in your intent and deeds. And you will be able to create a campaign that not only increases visitors to your website, product, and landing pages but also increase conversion and sales.
Related: How to communicate with freelance clients with conflicts
3. Show the results:
Trust is not something that automatically builds in the customer’s mind. You have to show proof. That’s why when you get 1st customers you have to satisfy them as best as possible.
After that, you have to take their feedback in Google reviews, comments, and ratings.
Even you have to show your past achievements, goals that you achieved, projects that you completed successfully, and everything that proves or is proof of your good service and products.
Customer is more intelligent and powerful in this era. They have access to information and data. But it is also for you as a business owner.
You can track the behaviors, you can use test different landing pages, and you can test and create various social media or pay-per-click advertising campaigns and content marketing and SEO strategies.
When you create a landing page or product or optimize content or website for traffic try to showcase the results you have gained for previous customers.
Even if you do not have something to showcase. Then show your product, services, and strengths in which you’re good. During that time, do not follow the agenda of competitors or already existing players. Be creative in creating and explaining the vision of your business, product, and services.
Read More:
How to get more clients with a portfolio website
How to get high-paying local SEO clients
4. Identify your competitors and study them:
When you enter into a new market or business or in online marketing 1st you have to study and research. Companies spend thousands of dollars on experts for research and planning. That’s ok! If you’re unable to hire experts for research.
What you can do is understand the strategies, players, activities, representees, their communication, their conclusions, their brand ambassadors, affiliates, or influencers, backlinks, keywords and advertising campaign.
What message they are passing for who?
All of these activities are called competitive analysis. There are tools and software that you can use for competitive analysis.
The point is simple before you enter the water understand the wave’s lengths, degree, and direction of the air.
And when you are in the water, then do your best as per the situation.
The benefit of a competitive analysis is that you will be able to come up with new marketing campaign ideas. You will be able to find loopholes in your competitor’s marketing strategy, you will be able to understand what and how they are doing or getting customers.
You do not have to copy them. Copying is not learning. Be what you’re the way you can help the customers. Learning will help you not to repeat the things that no longer working and you can enter the market with the latest trends or demands.
The customer is the king. And the king is never far from advice, advertisements, notifications, reviews, and suggestions.
But to reach customers you have to understand their current problems or obstacles they are facing with the current solutions. And if your product, services, and business can do that then they will come to you.
For example, using affiliate marketing, influence marketing, video marketing, and content marketing to promote your product and services is one of the ways to gain customer trust.
Today customer care about their problems gone are the days when they were sticking to one solution for a long time along with the pain. Today customers want a fresh, new, interesting, and new experience.
Read More: How to get more traffic to your blog despite competition
5. Be humble to your target audience/customers:
If your employees or you do not communicate effectively with customers, then forget about sales or even getting that customer back in your store. Read More: Importance of effective communication in business
Good, humble, down-to-earth, supportive communication is not a choice but the basic and essential thing in business.
When a customer comes to you they do not come to see how large or bright your store, website, and application is, they come to solve their problem. They might have doubts, complaints, and confusion and might be they are struggling in their life.
And they come to you or your website or store with the hope of getting results or solutions.
If you or your team behave rudely, then think how bad an experience they get in your business.
I know you can be with stress or your mood cannot be the same all the time. But if you’re in business then you have to forget your personal problems and have to focus on your customer’s problems.
If you do that, I will guarantee that you will never fail in business.
Also, when trying to sell, do not force customers to buy. Do not show the product first. Listen to them, and understand their desires and needs. And then showcase the product or solution.
Your product presentation and sales pitch if very important factors. Don’t dry it.
Please read the below posts for more knowledge on business communication:
6. Ask for feedback! Observe, listen and understand their problems:
Many people hesitate to provide feedback. They do not share their feedback publicly. And they do not feel confident and even many do not know the importance of providing feedback to customers.
Feedback helps businesses to build and add more quality and personalized features to their product and services.
For example, if students do not ask the question when in doubt, do you think teachers automatically find it?
While you can use data analytics tools to track the behaviors of your marketing campaign and website.
But feedback is something that comes directly from the customer’s experiences.
So, you have to ask and record the feedback of each customer. And then work on that if it’s negative or promote it if it’s positive.
In the process of asking and getting feedback, you will be able to connect and communicate with the customers. And transparent communication bridge is the biggest trust factor.
7. Be consistent in your performance:
Consistency in efforts and helping people is another key to gaining trust. Consistency comes with dedication, knowledge, business goals, vision, and business ethics. When you’re consistent in your marketing, customer support, and user experience then trust become stronger and sales automatically grow.
8. Take the initiative to solve their problems:
Before your competitor knows the problem of customers, your website errors, speed, and loopholes in user experience you have to find them and needs to take initiative to solve them.
You have to improve your awareness, alertness, and focus on the business vision. So that you always think about customers and help them to reach their goals and dreams faster.
To become a successful business leader or entrepreneur you have to master taking initiative in solving problems.
You might have a team for every work. But if something is urgent and your team member is not present then you have to take initiative and fill the gap or solve the problem. It might be sales-related, customer support or any type of other issue.
When you work in your business like a team player but not a boss. You win the trust of your employees. And this trust reflects in their activities when they handle your business customers.
Read more: Importance of Effective Communication in Customer Service
9. Show them a better way to achieve their dreams:
Every human including me and you have dreams. Everyone wants to become grow in their life, career, and business. People are ready to trust you. But show them the path. Increase their self-confidence, and improve their skills and knowledge. Think of your customers like your team or family.
But not only just promise, prove that with your activities, projects and results. And do not promise randomly, properly research and create a plan. And then present it, people.
10. Keep connected with them on ground level:
In business, you will have to interact with various types of people. Not all the time you will get good customer sometime you will also get bad experiences. In that time, you have to control yourself.
Tiger is beautiful and powerful. People like to see him only in videos and images more than in reality. No one can feel confident to connect with a tiger.
My point is that make your personality, and communication as easy as possible to access. Do not show your power and status. You might be the boss of a million-dollar company. But for customers, you’re the solution. If you’re not accessible or if they can’t communicate with you. Then how you will help and understand their problems?
I don’t mean you have to reach each customer on your own. But you must have a system such as a customer support system in which customers can contact within a minute.
If any new or old business does that, tell me will not that business become a brand? Yes, only these kinds of businesses that implement good user experience and have people first approach become brand.
11. Think different and prove them through product, pricing, and user experience:
Innovation and creativity are challenging. You can’t forget the sentiments of your customers. Do not create any marketing or advertising campaign that produces or builds habits in society.
Be responsible as a creator or innovator. And improve your business ethics.
Innovation and creativity are challenging. You can’t forget the sentiments of your customers. Do not create any marketing or advertising campaign that produces or builds habits in society.
Instead, create ads or write scripts that not only increase sales but also create a positive environment in society and as well as in consumers’ life.
Be responsible as a creator or innovator. And improve your business ethics.
12. Give more than the promise:
If any of your advice can help and save the customers money then give that. I don’t mean here, do not sell or promote your product. I mean help them to take the right decision. Show them proof that they are taking the right buying decision.
I hope you got very good ideas and ethics to win customers’ trust in this post. If you implement or work accordingly through any 5 of these ethics, you will be able to win the trust. And even if implemented all then you will be able to turn your business into a brand very soon.