Grow Your Company by Gaining Trust
‘Trust takes years to build and seconds to break.’
If people don’t trust your business, you’ll flounder.
It’s as simple as that.
Customers, buyers, consumers, clients. If there’s a chink in your armour, the people you want to sell to will see it a mile away.
So many businesses overlook little things that can improve how people perceive your business’ professionalism. Neglect these minor details and acquiring new customers/clients will become more and more of an uphill battle.
Take business email addresses, for example.
Your company most likely pays a monthly fee to a dedicated email host (gmail, Outlook etc.) for a professional business email address.
Professional business emails are useful for data security and privacy protection. It’s also good to have all your staff on one email server.
But they also look way more professional than personal emails.
Do you trust businesses that send emails from addresses that look like this – businessname@gmail.com?
If I don’t already know the company, the red flag’s flying immediately.
Email addresses like this lack credibility.
But business emails give a much more positive impression.
They’re inexpensive and easy to install. It’s a no-brainer no matter the size of a business.
5 Other Reasons Your Customers Might Be Losing Confidence
‘Those who cannot be trusted with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.’
Read the quote above.
From your customer’s point of view, the product/service they’re getting is an important matter. Everything peripheral to it can be considered a small matter.
You need to ensure small matters are cared for in the same way you care for the welfare of your product.
You might have honest intentions, but if that’s not the impression your audience gets, they won’t stick around.
Although the customer might not realise it, the small matters heavily influence whether they’ll purchase the important matter.
These are some of the small matters you need to be wary of.
A slow, ill-designed website
Nothing deters people faster than an old, decrepit website.
If your site is looking past-the-times, your would-be customers will dart faster than you can say ‘Internet Explorer’. And that died of old age years ago.
Business websites must look clean and inspire users through stunning design.
The user journey needs to be seamless from entry to exit.
Add great copywriting and eye-catching imagery.
Double-check that your user interface caters for your customers needs and voila. You’ve just reduced your bounce rate (the % of users that leave your site after viewing only one page).
Your user’s experience on the site must be nothing short of simple and smooth.
Great UX (user experience) equals returning customers. And there lies the goldmine.
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Poor spelling and grammar
Not everyone who reads this will class themselfs as a spelling and grammar Nazi.
That being said, even the least attentive person should see what’s gone disastrously wrong in that last sentence.
Grammar and spelling mistakes stand out and look extremely unprofessional. Customers will question your attention to detail.
It won’t put everyone off, but to ensure it puts no one off, it’s best to perfect it.
Whether it’s your website, signage or an advert you put out, it all needs to be grammatically immaculate.
An unsecure website
Look at the search bar on your screen right now.
There should be a padlock image to the left of the Stone Create web address.
If you can’t find it, it looks like this (if you’re using Chrome).
This is called an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and serves to improve your site’s security, among other benefits.
All the data on your site becomes locked (encrypted) and can only be accessed by the intended browser/server.
It makes it almost impossible for hackers to reach your data.
SSLs make you more credible. Customers will feel safer on your site when they see the padlock symbol.
Ensuring your website is as secure as possible is one way to show prospective customers they can trust you.
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Not delivering on promises
Reneging is a sin, and it’ll lose you customers fast.
So if you say you’re going to do something, do it.
Don’t promise a Ferrari then deliver a Fiat. Your customers will 180 and not look back.
Be realistic about what you can provide and excel at that instead.
Pushing your business beyond means it’s not ready for will only ensue regression.
Take shipping options for example.
If you can 100% guarantee next-day delivery, go for it. It’s a great USP.
But if you’ll only be able to fulfil 75% of next-day delivery orders, don’t overtly offer it. It’s not worth losing loyal customers over a delivery offer.
If your products are that great, your customers won’t mind waiting the standard 3-5 working days for them anyway.
In-your-face advertising
Don’t spam. You’re guaranteed to push people away.
If you think there’s a chance you’re annoying your customers, reign it in.
By all means release content. The more high-quality content you can publish the better.
For instance, be steady with the likes of emails. Direct contact with consumers should be frequent without breaching boundaries by bothering them.
Building a great email list is tough and you want to keep everyone that’s on there.
It only takes a second for a customer to unsubscribe from your email marketing.
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Make sure you explore every crevice of your business for inconsistencies that could affect how your customers perceive you.
Growing a trustworthy brand is a difficult but highly rewarding task. It’s supposed to be like that.
If you need help building your business’ brand and ‘trustability’, fill out a contact form below.
