Trust is the most essential way that businesses retain their customers, and attract new ones. If you can become a brand that people trust then you will find that not only do people buy your products, but they will actually recommend you to family and friends, and even strangers online! In this way, trust creates a kind of snowball effect where your business keeps expanding.
Trust does take time. Studies have shown that it takes about two years for businesses to become a brand that customers can rely on, and about five years to become one that they would recommend.
If you want to build trust, you need to be doing these things.
Communicate effectively
Building trust through effective communication means communicating regularly enough that people remember you, but not so regularly that you become a nuisance!
It also means tailoring your communications methods depending on who you are speaking to. For example, if your target demographic is younger, then a good method of communication is to establish an effective social media presence and cultivate community groups within them. This allows you to speak with your audience directly, and more importantly hear their feedback.
Older customers probably won’t use social media quite so much, so it’s important that you have a method of communication that they can use to speak with you, for example, a customer service line or online chat service.
The most important thing you can do is to monitor the things that you are doing so that you can tell what’s working and what isn’t, and refine your strategy accordingly.
Use a trusted platform
If your product appears on a platform that people already trust, you will automatically be trusted more. An effective way for businesses to utilize this effect is to list their products on Amazon. Amazon not only has a huge user base who might see your product, but they are trusted implicitly by most of them (which is why they have such a huge user base).
If you’d like guidance on creating an Amazon listing that will get good visibility, then check out Nuanced Media’s Amazon Services. It’s an Amazon expert and will help you to plan your campaign for maximum ROI.
Offer excellent customer service
Simple, but important: Your customers will trust you more if you provide consistently good service. Really, that’s all people are looking for.
Ensure that you meet any delivery dates that you quote, that you ship promptly and that you communicate if there are any issues.
Publish testimonials
Humans are social creatures, and we’ll generally be more inclined to trust something if someone else does! This is why testimonials and referrals are such powerful tools. You can incentivize your customers to provide referrals and testimonials through giveaways and other special offers.
Get feedback
Ask your customers what they like and don’t like about you, and then actively work to improve. People really like to feel that their opinion matters and they will respect your efforts.
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Bio: Ryan Flannagan is the Founder & CEO of NuancedMedia, an international eCommerce marketing agency specializing in Amazon. Nuanced has sold $100s of Millions online and Ryan has built a client base representing a total revenue of over 1.5 billion dollars. Ryan is a published author and has been quoted by a number of media sources such as BuzzFeed and Modern Retail. To connect with Ryan, check out @Ryanflannagan on Twitter or via Linkedin